Trusts to pay council $100k after appeal fails

A group of trusts that tried to stop work to improve Lake Horowhenua will need to shell out more than $100,000 in legal costs, despite saying it only makes $6000 a year. The Hokio Trusts will take almost 17 years to pay those costs to the Horizons Regional Council if the trusts put all their income into the order.

The Environment Court order comes after a legal battle between the trusts and council over proposed plans to clean up Lake Horowhenua - one of the country’s most polluted waterways.

The council was granted consents in 2015 to clean the lake with a sediment trap, fish pass, and weed harvester. Subsequent appeals by the trusts to the Environment and High courts failed.

The council took the trusts back to the Environment Court in lateseptember, seeking $118,916 in legal costs from the trusts.

The council submitted the trusts effectively abandoned two aspects of its appeal, related to a fish pass and sediment trap, while the hearing was happening.

The trusts’ appeals were largely based on arguments it ran when trying to stop the council’s resource consent applications, which the council submitted should make them more liable to paying costs.

The trusts submitted any costs should be nominal, as they were not looking to get personal gain from the appeal.

They would also be caused significant hardship, as they only had $6000 annual income from a rental and only received $10,000 in legal aid. The trusts said any deficiencies in their arguments were sorted out when they got a lawyer, who managed to flesh out the grounds of their appeal more fully. They also mentioned the fact they sought mediation, which the council refused.

In his written decision, Judge Brian Dwyer said having nothing to personally gain from an appeal, or limited funds, did not excuse them from paying costs.