Judge leaves judicial review proceeding to address technical issues about Electricity Act
In a dispute over whether certain installations on a strip of land were lawful, the New Zealand Court of Appeal granted leave to appeal from the High Court’s denial of interim relief pending the determination of judicial review proceedings.
C.L. Claydon – the third applicant in Ohana Limited v Far North District Council [2026] NZCA 346 – resided with his daughter on a yacht tied alongside a pontoon in the Kerikeri River. Claydon was the sole shareholder and managing director of both:
The respondent, the Far North District Council, owned a strip of land approximately 220 m long that created access from a road to the riverbank to which the pontoon was attached. Disputes over the strip’s status started in 2020 and came to a head in 2025.
By that point, Ohana and NZ Electricity Lines Ltd, an electricity operator under s 24 of the Electricity Act 1992, had entered into a contract through which Ohana bought Electricity Lines’ statutory power to install electrical infrastructure.
Under Electricity Lines’ delegated authority, with Claydon identified as the primary contact, an application requested approval for the installation of conduits, cables, and related cabinets for connections. In August 2022, the council approved the application.
In December 2022, Electric Boat received electricity operator status under s 24 of the Electricity Act. At that point, Electricity Lines had approved the installation of electrical cabinets with power sockets at the top of the strip and around 10 m from the riverbank.
In September 2024, Electric Boat used its electricity operator powers to complete repairs and other works due to waterlogging and erosion in the strip’s entrance, as alleged by Claydon.
On 4 June 2025, the council required Claydon to remove a bollard he had installed at the strip’s entrance, as well as security cameras, power boxes, and gravel he had placed along the strip.
Claydon argued that the council took unlawful actions with respect to lawful installations. The council disagreed.
A High Court judge accepted that the arguments supported aspects of the applicants’ case. However, the judge denied interim relief relating to the judicial review proceedings commenced against the council.
The three applicants – Ohana, Electric Boat, and Claydon – applied for leave to appeal against the High Court decision.
On 24 February 2026, pending the determination of the leave application, Justice Whata of the Court of Appeal granted the applicants’ requested interim relief.
Justice Collins of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand allowed the application for leave to appeal, with costs reserved.
The appeal court ruled that granting leave to appeal from the judgment of the High Court of New Zealand that refused interim relief would serve the interests of justice.
The Court of Appeal held that the applicants identified an arguable error in the High Court judge’s approach to determining whether preserving the applicants’ position was reasonably necessary.
The appeal court added that this alleged error constituted an issue with sufficient importance to the applicants and outweighed the matter’s lack of general or precedential value.
The council alleged that Ohana had since bought a property adjoining the strip, from which access to the pontoon was available.
The appeal court pointed out that the council’s argument, as well as the High Court judge’s decision, failed to address the full impact of denying interim relief.
The appeal court noted that:
The Court of Appeal decided that the judicial review application hearing could:
Here are some other news stories involving electricity.
Simeon Brown, energy minister, announced on 15 July 2026 the appointment of John Harbord – a barrister and solicitor of the High Court and an executive and governance professional – to a three-year term as chair of the Electricity Authority’s board, effective immediately.
Brown shared on 26 May 2026 that the four gentailers – Contact Energy, Genesis Energy, Mercury Energy, and Meridian Energy – could no longer give their own retail arms better deals than competing retailers when managing wholesale electricity price risk, as of 1 July 2026.
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