Appeal decision reserved

Press, 18 June 1986, Page 4

Appeal decision reserved

PA Dunedin A High Court judge in Dunedin reserved his decision yesterday on an appeal by an Omarama farmer who was fined for diverting water in the Ahuriri River. At the end of one-and-a-half days of legal submissions, Mr Justice Quilliam said he had a lot of reading to do on points that had been raised, and he would be making his decision in due course. Ronald McNally Blackstock was last year fined $lOOO by Judge Tom Ross in the Dunedin District Court on a charge of unlawfully diverting water, one of three charges upon which he had been convicted. The others were unlaw-

fully damming part of a river, and obstructing a water course.

He was ordered to pay $35 costs on each charge, witnesses’ expenses of $2131, and solicitors fees of $2OOO. On a fourth charge of wilfully damaging a water course, he was acquitted. The charges arose after Mr Blackstock hired a contractor to carry out diversion work on part of the Ahuriri River, without authorisation from the Waitaki Catchment Commission. Mr Blackstock was represented by Mr R. J. Somerville and Mr K. Dawkins, while the Waitaki Catchment Commission was represented by Mr N. S. Marquet.