The Otago Regional Council had "clearly offended and disadvantaged'' the Ngai Tahu tribal council by not directly notifying it of an effluent consent application involving land near the Kakanui River.
Maree Baker-Galloway, of Queenstown, made that comment yesterday at an Otago Regional Council Resource Management Act consent hearing in Dunedin.
The matter is being heard by independent commissioners Dr Brent Cowie and Andrew Fenemor.
Ms Baker-Galloway made submissions on behalf of Te Runanga o Moeraki and Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, the Moeraki and Ngai Tahu tribal councils.
By not directly notifying the Ngai Tahu council, the ORC had "severely and negatively impinged on'' that organisation's "right to participate in such decision-making and the ability to bring relevant information to the table''.
And the ORC should also have notified Fish and Game and the Department of Conservation, and other parties.
Given Fish and Game's commitment to the Kakanui and the obvious interest from a range of parties, it was "illogical'' that the ORC had not notified "such an important and potentially precedent-setting application wider than it did''.
The application should be declined on many grounds, including "significant and real concerns about ecosystem health, precedent and plan integrity''.
Dr Cowie said a judicial review could have been sought, and, on a literal reading of the law, it appeared some notification, albeit limited, had occurred.
The hearing continues today.
