Wetlands case hell for developer
A property developer at the centre of a botched wetlands protection case says the regional council battle drove him to the brink of suicide.
Stu Adams is suing Greater Wellington Regional Council for $20 million for defamation, malfeasance in a public office and malicious prosecution.
Despite hearing evidence that suggested the scientific testing was flawed in Adams’ case, the council pressed ahead with another conviction that resulted in farmer Adrian Page being wrongfully imprisoned.
Page and his partner, Julie Crosbie, who was fined $118,000, are also to set to sue after the Court of Appeal found there was a miscarriage of justice.
In both cases, the council could not prove natural wetlands occurred on their properties. But Adams said the council’s lawyers were dragging the chain over his compensation claim and refused to show any remorse for how he was treated.
“It has been a horrendous journey. I had people ringing me to make sure that I didn’t put a bullet through my head or put a rope over a tree.
“Without some of those people I wouldn’t be here. I was in some pretty dark places along the way.”
Adams bought land in the charming, semi-rural Whitemans Valley in early 2019. Farmed from the late 1800s, Upper Hutt City Council had given resource consent for a 13-lot subdivision in 2017.
But the regional council insisted there were natural wetlands on the land that needed protection. They ordered work on the subdivision cease and told Adams to get an assessment done by an expert.
The council would only accept a report from an approved list of ecology consultants. Its rules allow for an exemption from protection for pasture, but the consultant’s draft report failed to include this exclusion.
Adams challenged this and the final report was amended, significantly reducing the area that could legally be deemed natural wetland. The council then refused to accept the final report.
It took Adams to the Environment Court and lost, with the judgment throwing into question how the council assesses wetlands.
Judge Brian Dwyer said the regional council failed to establish by a “massive margin” that the wetlands existed. “The description draconian understates the impact ... on purchasers who had bought lots in good faith,” he added.
In both cases, James Luty was the council’s enforcement officer. The council relied on an assessment by senior environmental monitoring officer Owen Spearpoint and the same prosecutor, Andrew Britton, acted for the council.
Adams, a father of four, said the prosecution was devastating for his family and for his customers. Six clients pulled out of build contracts and a larger developer decided not to proceed with 25 homes. “I’ve had people at public meetings call me a rogue and a cowboy developer,” he said.
His wife and daughter had to withdraw from social media after suffering abuse online. Adams said the council’s behaviour was intended to cause maximum stress, such as delivering enforcement notices to him and his purchasers on Christmas Eve. Julie Crosbie also received an enforcement notice on December 23, 2020.
Adams estimates the case cost him around $15m in lost business. His 25 staff have now dwindled to three.
Because of rising building costs, interest
rates and changes in the property market, some who bought land from him now can’t afford to build on it. “I’m utterly demoralised,” he said. “I've had clients in my office crying regularly, people abusing my staff. It’s endless. It goes on and on.”
One of those customers is Sarah Kerkin, who said her family was still receiving counselling. Kerkin suffers from an auto-immune disorder and the stress exacerbated her condition so badly she was forced to work parttime. “I work for central government and I’m critically aware of the power that you have when you’ve got the full force of government agencies sitting behind you. And you do not use power like that,” she said.
“It has been ghastly. We are hoping that if we get a reasonable settlement out of Greater Wellington that might persuade the bank to lend to us. But we’re less optimistic as time goes. We might ultimately have to sell the land and just forget the dream.”
The council has previously declined to answer question on two failed wetland prosecutions. “As the Page and Crosbie case is still active, and discussions with Adams are ongoing, we are limited in what we can say,” it said in a statement last week.
It did not answer further questions from The Post yesterday.