Former Marlborough District councillor Geoff Evans on his family property, Stronvar Station. Photo: Supplied / Stuff
A former Marlborough councillor has overcome the final legal hurdle after taking the council to court over management of pines on his land.
Geoff Evans took the Marlborough District Council to the Environment Court in 2022 to stop the council taking over control of wilding pines on his family property Stronvar Station.
The council had adopted a new Regional Pest Management Plan which removed a site-led approach to dealing with pines at Stronvar Station. The site-led approach allowed Evans to have control over how pines were controlled on his property.
Evans told Local Democracy Reporting he was very pleased to have the court process wrapped up, after the council went to the court "again and again".
"The council is a very powerful organisation, and it's great to see a court sticking to the law and what's right and what's wrong."
Evans won the initial case in the Environment Court case back in 2022, but the council chose to appeal this decision to the High Court, which was heard in September last year.
Again, the council lost.
Evans said he was disappointed the council chose to appeal.
"The merit of the case, it's very clear. It was recognised by the court," he said.
"For council that wasn't the case."
Stronvar Station has a containment zone for wilding pines. Photo: Supplied / Stuff
In the "final decision" issued earlier this year, the Environment Court outlined what needed to be inserted into the council's pest management plan to manage wilding pines at Stronvar.
The council was also ordered to pay about $40,000 in costs to Evans.
Stronvar, at the headwaters of the Waihopai, had been in the Evans family since the 1940s.
Immediately north, in the Wye Catchment, the former Marlborough Catchment Board planted mainly contorta pine - the most "aggressive" pest species.
This was done for erosion control over a 370ha block, between 1959 and the mid-1980s. But over the years they spread to cover 7000ha, including the fragile "uppermost slopes" of Stronvar.
It meant the council had placed a "containment control zone" on the property, a retired area of Stronvar, which was managed by Evans.
Evans and the council sought slightly different amendments to the plan, so both submitted to the Environment Court in mid-March for a final direction on what would go into the plan.
That decision said the court accepted that emerging indigenous biodiversity at Stronvar warranted protection.
"The objective remains the containment and removal of pest conifers to the extent that this containment or removal protects the values of the place," the decision said.
It concluded the following would be inserted into the plan:
"Over the duration of this plan, all pest conifers within Stronvar Retirement Area to be contained or reduced through a site-led programme to reduce adverse effects on the environment, enjoyment of the natural environment and economic wellbeing."
These would preserve, and where possible enhance, indigenous vegetation cover within Stronvar Retirement Area to the extent practicable and minimise downstream sediment to the extent practicable, the decision said.
If any control operations were proposed for Stonvar, the council must work with Evans to identify and agree upon appropriate measures to maintain the indigenous biodiversity values at Stronvar and minimise erosion risk.
Any measures identified and agreed between the council and Evans would be recorded in a management plan.
The management plan could take a different approach to contain or reduce wilding conifers in different parts of the Stronvar Retirement Area.
At an environment and planning committee meeting earlier this month, the committee agreed to proceed with the amendment to comply with the Environment Court direction.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
