It does not pay to sidestep the Waitaki District Council’s consenting process, Judge John Hassan says.
After being found guilty of breaching the council’s district plan, by clearing indigenous vegetation between between August 2018 and August 2019, WH McAughtrie Farm Ltd, owned by Omarama farmer Dannie McAughtrie, has been fined nearly $90,000.
The company was fined $80,000 and ordered to pay the Waitaki District Council $8196.18 as a ‘‘contribution towards the costs of the prosecution’’ and $130 in court costs, after a judge-alone trial on June 10.
In the Dunedin District Court judgement, released on Wednesday, Judge Hassan said a significant area of vulnerable, protected vegetation had been cleared, but the harm extended beyond that. It undermined ‘‘community confidence in the effectiveness of RMA controls and WDC’s related statutory functions’’.
The offending was for commercial gain, rendering the land more suitable for productive pasture, Judge Hassan said.
‘‘That gain has come at a significant cost to the environment and the community.’’
General deterrence was important, and while the fine was ‘‘hefty’’, the offending could have demanded more, he said.
‘‘In the Upper Waitaki, the McAughtrie farm is by no means unique in terms of the challenges it faces in how to achieve sustainable pasture improvement whilst protecting vulnerable indigenous vegetation ... there are clear commercial pressures in the mix.
‘‘Sentencing has an important general deterrence role of making it clear that it does not pay to seek to sidestep required consenting processes.’’
In 2018, WH McAughtrie Farm made arrangements for a contractor to clear and crop a fenced-off 145ha paddock on the farm, between Omarama and Twizel.
Vegetation cleared from the area included nationally critical dryland cress, as well as five species listed as ‘‘declining’’ and two listed as ‘‘nationally vulnerable’’. The clearance work was done without resource consent.
The Waitaki District Council’s lawyer, Shelley Chadwick, said the offending came to light when a member of the public noticed the clearance from the road and alerted the council.
Ms Chadwick characterised Mr McAughtrie’s culpability as ‘‘wilful blindness’’ and ‘‘extreme indifference’’ to and ‘‘disdain of’’ what the district plan required.
Neither WH McAughtrie Farm, nor the contractor, made inquiries with the council before the work began.
She said Mr McAughtrie was one of a group of farmers who displayed disdain for the district plan, and a view they should be left alone to develop their farms’ productivity.
WH McAughtrie Farm’s lawyer, Michael Parker, accepted there had been a ‘‘high level of carelessness’’, but said it was unfair to say the company was ‘‘shrugging its shoulders’’, or to hold it accountable for farm caused by other farmers.
He said after 45 years of ‘‘lawful farming’’, his client did not offend deliberately, having an honest belief that the clearance was allowed under existing use rights.
Waitaki District Council acting heritage, environment and regulatory group manager Roger Cook hoped the sentence would send a strong message to other farmers in the district.
The council investigated all situations in which it believed indigenous vegetation had been cleared, Mr Cook said. There were at least two other cases under investigation at present.
‘‘We, as a council, are prepared to proceed with action against violations,’’ he said.
