Learn about the judicial review concerning our decisions on granting Mayfield-Hinds-Valetta Water Limited’s irrigation discharge permit.
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Ashburton Lyndhurst Irrigation Ltd consent judicial review
Find out about the Environmental Law Initiative’s (ELI) successful judicial review of the decision to grant a discharge permit to the Ashburton Lyndhurst Irrigation Ltd (ALIL) irrigation scheme, which resulted in the permit being set aside and subsequent law reform.
Current status: An independent hearing commissioner has granted the permit with conditions. ALIL has lodged an appeal against those conditions.
High Court decision, 20 March 2024
The Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) enables resource consents to be granted in areas with degraded water quality if reductions in the discharge of contaminants can be achieved over the life of the consent.
This is consistent with the approach in the Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan (LWRP) and the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPSFM) 2020, which seeks to improve degraded water quality over a generation.
ELI sought judicial review of our decision to grant a discharge permit to ALIL on three grounds, including incorrect application of section 107 of the RMA.
The High Court decided the version of section 107 that applied at the time did not allow for reductions in the discharge of contaminants to happen over time where the discharge, either by itself or in combination with other discharges, would give rise to significant adverse effects on aquatic life.
Law change
Following the High Court decision, Parliament amended section 107 of the RMA to allow for the granting of a discharge permit, or a coastal permit, that may allow for significant adverse effects on aquatic life, if a council is satisfied that the conditions of the permit will contribute to a reduction of the effects over the duration of the permit.
Effect of the law change
Section 107 is now aligned with the LWRP approach to phasing out degraded water quality over time while supporting the social, economic and cultural wellbeing of communities.
We therefore decided to withdraw our appeal. ALIL later did the same.
Reconsideration of the permit
The High Court sent the permit back to an independent hearing commissioner to decide whether to grant the consent, taking into account the changes to section 107.
On 22 September 2025, the independent hearing comissioner decided to grant the consent with conditions (PDF file, 14.2MB).
On 15 October 2025, ALIL lodged an appeal against the consent conditions.
Next step
The Environment Court will set a date for the appeal.
News
A court decision to set aside a discharge consent for an irrigation scheme could have wide-ranging impacts on economic activity around the country.