Devonport resident off to appeal court over Ports of Auckland wharf work

UPDATED: Stanley Bay resident Carol Banks' lawyer, Anna Longdill, says the application for a judicial review over Waitemata port wharf extensions rejected by the High Court yesterday will now go to the Court of Appeal. 

The lawyer – who is acting pro bono for Ms Banks – says the fight is not over, and she has filed an appeal. 

Ms Banks is the ex-wife of Court of Appeal judge Rhys Harrison and is named on the titles of residential and commercial property with a rateable value of about $15 million in Takapuna, Stanley Bay, Herne Bay, Albany, Mt Wellington and Thorndon, Wellington.

One of those properties is a mortgage-free house, with a rateable value of $4.7 million, overlooking the harbour at Stanley Bay. Ms Banks is listed on the titles of most of the property with her ex-husband and both are listed with High Court judge Asher Raynor, Julian Miles QC and barrister David Rishworth on the the commercial properties at Takapuna and Mt Wellington.

Ms Banks – whose daughter set up a fundraising page for the lawsuit featuring her as  a 'harbour-loving grandma' – has closed the page after raising $2000 in three days. Her lawyer, Anna Longdill, says Ms Banks has paid a Court of Appeal filing fee of $1100 and will pay her $1850 High Court filing fee this week. "We now await directions from a judge at the Court of Appeal."

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EARLIER: A High Court judge has tossed out an urgent bid to get Ports of Auckland to stop construction on its wharves, saying there is not enough evidence before the court. 

Stanley Bay resident Carol Banks filed for interim relief last Friday to stop the port's construction of two wharf extensions.  

The proceeding is separate from the action taken by architects' group Urban Auckland, whose case requesting a review of how the decision to allow the extensions was made is set down for June. 

The statement of claim filed with the High Court at Auckland says the environment impact was overlooked and the company made a mistake as it believed only a minority opposed it.

However, Justice Geoffrey Venning said there was not enough information before the court to make a decision.

The judge accepted Ms Banks' concerns were genuinely held, and that they may represent the views of many Aucklanders. 

However, he said the work which has been carried out in conjunction with third parties and for which the port has resource consent,  should not be stopped. 

"'It is also particularly relevant that [Jim] Farmer [QC acting for Ports of Auckland] confirmed the undertaking in the Urban Auckland case is available in this proceedings, which is that if a court determines the consent were unlawful, Ports of Auckland will remove the wharf extensions," Justice Venning said.  

Mr Farmer said an injunction hurts the port more than Ms Banks. He told the court the port needs to file evidence so the proceeding should be timetabled, and heard alongside the Urban Auckland dispute given that there is overlap between the two cases, or afterward. In particular, he was concerned about allegations on safety matters which the port wants to contest.   

He pointed out that Ms Banks' own statement of claim was still in draft form. 

Auckland Council, which was joined at the last minute, was also represented at the hearing because Ms Banks had requested evidence from it. The council's lawyer, Anna Adams, said it has no issue reproducing a formal record of the resource consent decisions requested by Urban Auckland, by the end of today.

Ms Banks lawyer Anna Longdill said the matter could be timetabled for later but she wanted the port to first give an undertaking it would stop work until then, and said the council had known of the case since Thursday. 

Justice Venning said that was not going to happen.