Ports of Auckland Ltd v Auckland City Council - [1999] 1 NZLR 601

Tort — Nuisance — Noise pollution — Whether operation under resource consent granted under Resource Management Act 1991 provides defence to action in nuisance.

Resource management — Resource consents — Conditions attaching to resource consent — Validity of council's decision to proceed on non-notified basis — Developers sought consent to proceed with residential development in vicinity of port — Applicant operated busy port 24 hours per day within noise control limits — Inevitability of nuisance actions from occupiers of new developments in respect of excessive noise limits — Whether council acted reasonably in determining that the applicant was not a person adversely affected by the granting of consent — Whether conditions imposed by council sufficient to ensure that noise from the port did not adversely affect the comfort of the occupiers — Resource Management Act 1991, s 94.