Aquarium owner in lease dispute denies living on site

A Picton aquarium owner who has taken his landlord to the High Court over a lease dispute has denied claims he lives on the site.

The High Court hearing between Ecoworld Aquarium & Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre and its landlord Port Marlborough opened on Monday before Justice David Gendall.

Ecoworld owner John Reuhman is arguing he has a right to renew his lease which expired in July last year.

Port Marlborough disputes this, saying there had only been discussions of a ‘‘possible extension’’.

The aquarium is home to tuatara, stingray and red-eared turtles, as well as having a yellow-crowned parakeet breeding programme.

Reuhman told the court that Port Marlborough had only now made claims the aquarium was breaching its resource consent, and that he lived on site, because of the High Court case.

The resource consent for the aquarium allowed only animals found within the Marlborough Sounds boundary to be housed at the aquarium. Port Marlborough alleged Reuhman had breached this.

Reuhman said he was appalled the port went behind his back to complain he was breaching his resource consent in December last year. He argued a tuatara enclosure funded by the Marlborough District Council in 2008, did not include reptiles found in the Marlborough Sounds.

He said claims that the aquarium was his home were not true.

‘‘I own a campervan, parked in my friend’s driveway. I pay rent, and have a room at this address ... I spend time in Christchurch and Wellington for several days each month.’’

However, he said someone did have to be near the aquarium at all times, so he stayed on occasion, but there was no kitchen or bathroom, so he had never been there full-time.

He said frequent power cuts meant someone needed to be around to turn on a generator.

‘‘The reality is, Ecoworld is demanding,’’ he said.

Reuhman said since taking Ecoworld over completely in 2011, he had run it as a charitable enterprise, only paying himself the living wage, at $22.50 an hour. He’d held shares in the company since 2003.

‘‘I’m 67 years old. Securing the asset is important to me, to ultimately pass the entity to someone who has time and energy to take it to the future,’’ Reuhman said.

He said when he heard the lease would expire, he was ‘‘shocked, numb and nearly fainted’’, as he was always under the impression the lease would be renewed.

This was assumed following discussions he had with port staff in 2015.

A letter from Port Marlborough dated September 2015 said they were prepared to offer Reuhman a further right of renewal of Ecoworld’s lease for a term of 10 years. It would have made the final lease expiry July 22, 2031.

Reuhman sought to negotiate better terms for his lease, as he took issue with a future development clause in the contract, which allowed Port Marlborough to terminate the lease with three months notice, should it need the land.

He told the court the future development clause stopped him from being able to make any major improvements to the property. But he found ‘‘an element of protection’’ in having the Edwin Fox, a heritage structure, next door.

Reuhman tried to get the future development clause removed from the lease agreement. He also tried to have his rent reduced, saying it was disproportionate to the Edwin Fox site.