After eight years of litigation, two groups appealing consents to expand and develop Otakiri Springs bottling plant are being heard in the Supreme Court today.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa and Sustainable Otakiri are opposed to the expansion of Otakiri Springs.

The iwi objects to Bay of Plenty Regional Council granting consent to increase the allowed water take to 1.1 million cubic metres a year.

Sustainable Otakiri, an incorporated society formed by a group of neighbouring residents, is opposed to Whakatāne District Council granting the company consent to increase the size of the bottling plant without public consultation.

Otakiri Springs has been a locally run business for more than 30 years.

In 2016, Creswell New Zealand, a subsidiary of Chinese water bottling giant Nongfu, entered into an agreement to buy the land and business on Johnson Road.

It was granted resource consent from the regional and district councils to increase the water take and expand the bottling plant.

Creswell New Zealand planned to employ an extra 60 people to operate the plant.

Objections by Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa and Sustainable Otakiri were dismissed by the Environment Court and that decision has since been upheld by both the High Court in 2020 and Court of Appeal last year.

In April this year, both groups were given leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court hearing is to decide whether the Court of Appeal was correct to dismiss the appeals and whether the High Court was wrong to uphold the Environment Court’s decision in relation to negative tikanga effects.

The case is set down for two days before a panel of five justices.

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