Forest & Bird wins Ruataniwha dam appeal

Forest & Bird has won an appeal against downgrading conservation land in Hawke's Bay to enable the Ruataniwha dam to be built. In February, the High Court approved a land swap between the Department of Conservation (DOC) and the Hawke's Bay Regional Council. The proposed exchange, of 22ha of protected conservation land in Ruahine Forest Park for 170ha of farm land, involved downgrading the conservation land to stewardship status, in order to allow it to be flooded for the dam. Forest & Bird said the High Court was wrong to allow the land's specially protected status be revoked for a commercial development. It said the protected land was home to several threatened species, such as the New Zealand falcon and long-tailed bats. A majority of the Court of Appeal today ruled that the Director-General of Conservation was not entitled to revoke the special conservation status of a small portion of the park land. Justices Harrison and Winkelmann found that the Director-General would have had to be convinced in his assessment that the intrinsic values of the land in question were no longer worth permanent protection as envisaged by the relevant legislation. The Court of Appeal has directed the Director-General to set aside the decision and reconsider the application of the Hawke's Bay Regional Investment Company to exchange the land. In a dissenting judgement, Justice Ellen France said she would have dismissed the appeal on the basis that the Director-General was not limited to consideration of the conservation values of the 22ha of land. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/312185/forest-and-bird-wins-ruataniwha-dam-appeal