Photo: Supplied
Property developer Winton is being forced to remediate a Significant Natural Area after it cleared a potential wetland in the Coromandel town of Matarangi.
The Waikato Regional Council has agreed to drop its prosecution in exchange for Environment Court enforcement orders that make Winton clean up its mess.
The saga began in 2021 when Winton's contractor told the Thames-Coromandel District Council it planned on some "vegetation clearance" as part of its housing development Beaches which sits on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula.
The local council did not recognise the area as significant, even though the Regional Council had designated it a Significant Natural Area.
Forest and Bird maintain both councils should have done more to prevent the clearance in the first place, and say it's an example of how precious wetlands and ecological habitats are easily destoyed.
Tom Kay is Forest and Bird's freshwater advocate and has been involved in this case since it began, he speaks to Kathryn Ryan.
