Rakaia hearing cost at least $140,000

Press, 14 December 1983, Page 9

Rakaia hearing cost at least $140,000

The Rakaia River conservation order hearing will cost at least $140,000. This cost is based on the assumption that the hearing will continue until tomorrow. This is a conservative estimate,'based on accountable costs only, including the National Water and Soil Conservation Authority’s costs, the fees of the main lawyers at the hearing and staff time for some organisations.

What cannot be counted is the months of work done by Government employees in the Ministries of Agriculture and Fisheries and Works and Development before the hearing. Some expert witnesses who gave evidence during the first days of the hearing, which began last week, have remained to listen to the rest of the evidence, while being on full salaries. The loss of work to farmers, and other interested people, some of

whom have remained at the hearing for the full time, cannot be accounted for, neither can the time they have spent of preparing submissions. Some major lawyers and witnesses are on a set salary, but have had to farm out work to other people. The N.W.A.S.C.A. fee comes to $28,000, including a $6OO cost of flying the five-member committee over the Rakaia the day before the hearing began on Tuesday of last week. However, the cost of this hearing may not end here. Following the authority’s draft order, public grievances against the decision would take the application back to the Planning Tribunal. If the submissions were general enough, the tribunal could face a total rerun of the hearing. After that decision, the case could be taken to the

High Court on points of law, which have been extensively debated at this hearing. Hearing, Page 36