17 August 2026: Court decision re Rotokakahi Board vs Rotorua council

Media: Local Democracy Reporter, Aukaha, Radio NZ, NewstalkZB, TVOne Breakfast show

Topic: High Court decision relating to Rotokakahi Board of Control vs Rotorua Lakes Council

Enquiries

Requests for comment on the decision of the High Court in relation to aspects of the Tarawera Sewerage Scheme and a news release issued by the Rotokakahi Board of Control (see below)

MEDIA RELEASE

Rotokākahi Board of Control

14 August 2026 — for immediate release

High Court finds Rotorua Lakes Council acted unlawfully — twice

The High Court has found that Rotorua Lakes Council broke the law in the way it pushed ahead with the Tarawera sewerage scheme past Rotokākahi, the tapu ancestral lake of Tūhourangi and Tumatawera.

In a judgment delivered on 13 August 2026, the Court declared two Council decisions unlawful: the decision to proceed with the scheme, and the later decision to issue a section 87BB notice treating the works as a permitted activity that needed no resource consent.

“These are serious findings against the Council,” says Rotokākahi Board of Control chair Wally Lee. “We demand accountability and correction.”

The Court found the Council was required to engage directly with the Board before it proceeded — and did not. The Council knew Rotokākahi is tapu, and knew the Board had signalled “grave concern”, yet it never sought the Board’s views on what the scheme would mean for the lake. The Court found the Council proceeded on a wrong legal principle and failed to turn its mind to the protections that applied, including from the Council’s own planning documents for the Lakes A Zone which specified that a resource consent was required for scheme’s earthworks. The Council’s decision to proceed was unlawful.

On the section 87BB notice, the Court found the Council was wrong in law. Its conclusion that the cultural effects of the earthworks were “less than minor” was not one available on the evidence before it. The Council had measured the wrong thing — the brief duration of the earthworks rather than their cultural impact on a landscape our people regard as sacred.

The pipeline may now be in the ground, but completing the works does not erase the unlawful decisions that allowed them to proceed, nor the cultural, environmental and intergenerational consequences our people are left to carry. The Court granted the declarations so that the Council will “take notice and care” before undertaking future activities in the Lakes A Zone.

When members of our community stood in opposition to these works, the Council obtained a court injunction against them — pursued at ratepayers’ expense. The High Court has now found that what those protestors were standing against was the Council’s own unlawful conduct. The Board is proud to have stood alongside them, and we thank them for their courage and their steadfast support in defence of Rotokākahi.

“For us, this is not the end,” says Mr Lee. “The Board is considering the judgment and taking advice on further legal options. We are clear that unlawful decisions affecting Māori-owned whenua and a tapu ancestral landscape cannot be made without consequence.”

Te Whatanui Skipwith, of Protect Rotokākahi, says the ruling vindicates a struggle of more than two years. “The High Court has now confirmed that our concerns were justified. We stood then. We stand now. And we will continue to stand for Rotokākahi.”

Response

The following was provided to all media who requested comment.

From Rotorua Lakes Council Chief Executive Andrew Moraes:

Rotorua Lakes Council has received the High Court's decisions in proceedings relating to the Tarawera Sewerage Scheme and the construction of a wastewater pipeline near Rotokakāhi.

We recognise the cultural significance of this area and acknowledge the strongly held views that have been expressed throughout the project. Council is committed to carefully considering all its findings.

Council will take time to review the decision in detail to understand its implications and consider any appropriate steps.

The Tarawera Sewerage Scheme is operational with 321 of 408 properties now connected to the reticulated wastewater network, replacing septic tanks and improving environmental and public health outcomes.