Owners of a Dunedin property accepted they could not continue to clear native vegetation there, but the Dunedin City Council wanted to go further — insisting on the erection of a 300m fence, listing native species that should be planted, requiring that sycamore and pine trees be felled and asking that habitats for velvet worms be created.
The Environment Court was having none of it, rejecting the city council’s application for enforcement orders.
Legal fees covering almost two years of work on the case have cost the council more than $50,000.
The court’s decision, released last week, relates to vegetation clearance carried out at 123 Mornington Rd in Kenmure, a property owned by Steven Ross and Michael Ross.
The property covers 2ha and includes a steep gully.
It is also part of an urban biodiversity mapped area (UBMA), or a network of green corridors, in the Dunedin City Council’s second-generation district plan.
The council seeks to maintain or enhance biodiversity values in such areas.
Among the rules is that unconsented vegetation clearance is limited to 20sqm over a three-year period, but there are exemptions for getting rid of pest plants and for the erection, maintenance or alteration of fences.
Steven Ross told the court he used a digger to remove sycamore trees — regarded as a pest — from areas where using a chainsaw would have been difficult.
Other vegetation was trampled by the digger and he acknowledged a few natives among the weeds were possibly lost.
Judge Laurie Newhook found native vegetation was likely to be about 30% of the area cleared.
He concluded the moderately extensive removal of vegetation was collateral damage, rather than deliberate clear felling.
The judge indicated some of the council’s demands could have affected the owners’ rights to carry out permitted activities or seek resource consents.
The council’s extensive application included requiring restoration of the area where vegetation was cleared.
It wanted a cattle-proof stock fence stretching about 300m to be constructed.
It called for three sycamore and four pine trees to be felled and said this should be done with a chainsaw.
The council wanted 250 subcanopy native trees planted and prescribed various percentages for some varieties.
There were suggestions during the case that the area was a habitat for peripatus, or velvet worms.
The council wanted 10 artificial peripatus habitats to be installed at five sites. They could consist of a pile of 30 bricks and a pile of pine bark chips — 2m wide, 2m long and 1m high.
Judge Newhook rejected the council’s application in its entirety and observed that Steven and Michael Ross would by now be fully aware their land was subject to restrictions on their rights.
The council had not yet decided whether to appeal the court’s decision.