Our legal team has been advised that it will be 2026 before the Court of Appeal hears Tūpuna Maunga Authority’s appeal against our successful judicial review outcome in the High Court. A date has yet to be set and we will let you know when one has been confirmed.
For us, the delay is a good thing because it means the 278 trees covered by the resource consent should (largely) be safe for now. It also gives us more time to raise the necessary funds to defend the appeal. Our legal team has estimated a cost of $25,000 + GST, so we have another mountain to climb to raise this extra money!
Although I am very hopeful we will win, including because of the precedent set by Averil and Warwick Normans’ successful Judicial Review Appeal for Ōwairaka / Mount Albert, we still need to defend the Ōtāhuhu / Mt Richmond appeal so every donation is much appreciated.
On a related note, we understand that the Authority’s board members STILL haven’t actually voted to appeal the judicial decision. See here for more details. It beggars belief that the members are letting the Chair and TMA officials get away with taking this unsanctioned action. We understand from official information requests that Auckland Council has told the TMA that the Council’s legal fund will not pay for the appeal unless the members have voted to support this action.
Local body elections are being held later this year and this will likely trigger a change of the Authority’s members (membership being linked to the local body terms). We encourage the TMA’s current members to resolve the vote issue this term rather than leaving it for the next board to deal with.
Respect Mt Richmond / Ōtāhuhu 