
A new resource consent application has been lodged with Auckland Council for the Action Ninja World at the Matakana Country Park.
Resource consent manager Ian Dobson says the application is currently being assessed and no notification determination has been made yet.
“This application remains similar to the previous one,” Dobson says. “However, the layout of the structures has been changed, with the taller structures being moved further into the site towards the north-eastern boundary.
Also, small box-like structures are proposed to sit over the top of the air pumps to reduce noise.”
The attraction closed last December following a High Court decision to quash its resource consent. This followed a complaint by the elderly owner of a neighbouring property, Bill Freeth. Freeth paid for a judicial review of the consenting process on the grounds that the playground he gave his consent to was not the one that was eventually built.
The plans submitted to Council were for an Action Ninja World and a Matakana Action World, whereas the plans shown to Freeth and signed by him were for an adventure playground and a Matakana Country Park children’s adventure playground.
The court awarded Freeth $25,000 legal costs and $10,000 exemplary costs, which were to be paid jointly by Council and the Country Park.
While Council has paid its share, the Country Park has not. The amount outstanding is somewhere around $13,000.
Freeth says he is now considering his options, which include going back to court for an enforcement action.
Enforcement action through the High Court can involve a sale order for the sale of property of the liable party, or another option could be bankruptcy proceedings.
However, Country Park owner Brendan Coghlan says the outstanding costs will be paid when he has a clear direction from Council on the latest resource consent.
“We are doing everything we can (through the new consent application) to ensure the neighbours are not affected and consent can be issued,” Coghlan said.
Meanwhile, Freeth says he has not personally been contacted by anyone regarding the new application.
Coghlan says the new plans have been sent to Mr Freeth’s barrister, “as requested by Mr Freeth”.