Anglers seek review of rafting consent
A group of anglers is seeking a judicial review of a decision to allow a commercial rafting operation on Southland rivers.
But the Southland District Council, which granted the consent, said the application did not need to be publicly notified.
Fishing guide Casey Cravens said the group would form an incorporated society, and had already sought legal advice on challenging the district council’s decision not to consult with the public before granting consent to the rafting operation.
It plans to hold its first meeting in Queenstown on December 11, at which it would seek the 15 signatures required to become an incorporated society.
The group is also seeking donations to cover legal fees.
Cravens said the fundamental issues were that the council had not consulted with the public and had not carried out any impact studies on how the rafting operation would affect the river.
‘‘You can’t put rafts over those fish [and] expect their behaviour to remain the same or for them to continue to feed the same way.
‘‘The mere fact that the river [Mataura] has a National Conservation Order on it should have triggered consultation.’’
He said the issue was not about one group of people having exclusive use of the river over any other party.
‘‘We believe that anglers are affected parties and we have a right to be heard.’’
He said every angling club in Otago and Southland supported the group’s stance.
‘‘The decision was rammed through with no consultation and that is nothing short of undemocratic and authoritarian. It’s a Trumpian mentality.’’
Council planning manager Marcus Roy said that in considering the resource consent application the council looked at the potential effects of the activity and what process the application should follow with respect to the Resource Management Act.
‘‘It was deemed that the application did not need to be publicly notified,’’ Roy said.
The resource consent is held by Phil Joostens, of Mataura, who plans to operate rafts on the Oreti and Mataura rivers. A consent
‘‘The decision was rammed through with no consultation.’’
Casey Cravens
application has also been made to the Gore District Council.
Joostens will run three rafting trips in the Southland District – on the Mataura River from the confluence with the Nokomai River to Cattle Flat, and from Mataura to Wyndham, and on the Oreti River from Lumsden to Dipton.
After consultation with Southland Fish & Game, Joostens had changed his operation on the Mataura so that it would only run when the river was at higher flows, so that anglers were unlikely to be on the river.
Cravens started an online petition earlier this year calling for a ban of intensive commercial rafting on New Zealand’s heritage dry-fly rivers. The petition has gained more than 5000 signatures.