Neighbours object to Russell Coutts's golf course water take

Russell Coutts wasn't at today's hearing in Queenstown (Image: Getty)

Tue, 15 Jun 2021

If Russell Coutts can afford to build a private 18-hole golf course, he can also afford to maintain local water quality and availability, submitters on Coutts's controversial application for new water rights for his Central Otago property argued in hearings today. Long-time Crown Terrace resident Jef Desbecker urged commissioner Rob van Voorthuysen to reject Coutts's application, saying it falls short of the 2020 freshwater national policy statement and should start again as a publicly notified consent, meaning anyone who wanted wo...

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