The Court of Appeal has ruled out further litigation on a retrospective resource consent process by Cable Bay Vineyards which has been fighting Auckland Council, the courts and its immediate neighbours since 2017 in a storm of litigation, noise complaints and enforcement issues.

Late last month, Appeals Court judge Mark Cooper declined an application by the major island winery and venue to contest a recent High Court judgment in the Appeals Court.

Much of the company’s case turned on an original 2006 resource consent for the Cable Bay complex, which was not accepted by Judge Cooper.

Cable Bay began operating the winery and hospitality business from the property in 2012. By 2014, an additional lightweight veranda structure had been constructed on the property. This contained a pizza kitchen, bar and seating for guests and was constructed and operated without building or resource consents.

By 2017, Cable Bay was using three seating bays (with umbrellas) to the south of the veranda for outdoor dining. It was also using the lawn in front of the restaurant and veranda for informal dining, with guests typically using bean bags.

In April 2017, it applied for a retrospective resource consent for the veranda and operation of a restaurant and function facility within it. It would consent to “formalise” outdoor seating for restaurant guests in the outdoor seating bays and consent to use the lawn area for informal dining and drinking.

Auckland Council’s planning commissioners subsequently refused the resource consent application, finding the proposed use had “effects more than minor”, and the company sought retrospective consent from the Environment Court for certain activities that it was carrying out on the 4.5 hectare property where grapes had been grown since the 1990s.

• Liz Waters

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