Fresh legal bid shocks range owner

Another legal battle is brewing over noise at the Cable Bay Shooting Adventures rifle range, shocking its owner, who says he faces forking out another $50,000 for his defence.

Legal action was taken against the rifle range more than a year ago after several complaints about noise from three neighbours. The Environment Court ruled on the hours the range could operate, the number of rounds allowed to be fired by specific calibre firearms – including .308 rifles and shotguns – and other conditions to limit objectionable noise. Rules for notifying neighbours were also included.

Owner Bruce Harvey says he agreed to all conditions but spent $43,000 on his defence. Now the Nelson City Council is taking further legal action to try to stop the range opening on Sundays and to ban large shooting events on his property after a three-day national event last Labour Weekend.

Mr Harvey said he was "shocked" and the notice had come "out of the blue" because he felt he was abiding by the Environment Court decision.

"[The NCC] know I won't be able to afford to fight it if I can't get legal aid. If I can't, then I can't win."

The farm the range is on was bought by Mr Harvey's father and uncles in 1952. He has lived there his whole life, and has operated the range as a business for eight years.

"I don't know any range in the country that closes on a Sunday," Mr Harvey said.

He also said the council wanted him to stand next to any shooter on his range while they were firing.

"But there is no safety involved with that; they all have firearms licences. [The NCC] are just trying to make it harder for me.

"I agreed to all the original terms and now they are just trying to change it all."

Council environment and planning manager Richard Johnson said the court had imposed the original conditions in good faith but they were not working.

"That is the reason we are going back to court – because we want to create means by which appropriate behaviour on the rifle range is actually achieved."

Mr Johnson would not comment on the specifics of the case but said it was difficult to make the conditions work. He said the court had done its best but in real life, council staff were finding issues in enforcing them.

He said it was a difficult situation, with one school of thought saying the range was in a rural zone. "And if you can't have a range in a rural zone, then where can you?" Another argument said that the Resource Management Act was the ultimate decider. "That says you are not allowed to have adverse effects on the environment or have unreasonable noise."

charlesa@nelsonmail.co.nz

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