Photo: NZDF
The Selwyn District Council does not believe residents living near an army rifle range should be banned from making noise complaints, an Environment Court hearing has heard.
A hearing is underway between the council and the Defence Force (NZDF) over a bid by the military to put no noise complaint covenants on new properties and developments built near its West Melton Rifle Range.
The Defence Force wanted to protect itself from neighbours raising issues about noise at the range, concerned that it might wind up having to restrict its operations.
The Selwyn District Council declined to include the covenant in its district plan, and the Defence Force has appealed to the Environment Court to reverse this decision.
The West Melton Rifle Range on Old West Coast Road was established in the 1940s and occupies 422 hectares.
It was used for general military training, including grenade practice and training in the use of explosives.
Lawyer for Selwyn District Council, Jenna Silcock, said NZDF facilities were recognised as important infrastructure in the proposed district plan.
"The New Zealand Defence Force and the council agree on the need to protect West Melton Rifle Range and to manage noise emanating from the range and any reverse sensitivity effects. However, they disagree on the most appropriate way to achieve those objectives," she said.
The council believed imposing a no-complaints covenant on new properties near the range was a step too far, Silcock said.
She said the council's position was that it strongly support the current planning framework.
"Historically the Selwyn district plan has not had rules in place to manage reverse sensitivity and the council has been engaging with NZDF in respect of the proposed plan provisions since 2015."
The Defence Force lodged a submission to the council's district plan in 2022 for it to include the covenant, but the council refused after strong community opposition.
"The hearings panel was not persuaded that a no-complaints covenant approach was an appropriate option," she said.
The panel had concerns about it being it an "unfair and unjust" approach.
She said the panel was concerned about the ability for the Defence Force to escalate and intensify activities following a covenant being entered into, and the cost for landowners and practical implications.
Lawyer for the Defence Force, Sarah Mitchell, said pressure for development in the Selwyn District had brought residential and rural residential development closer to the rifle range.
She said the Defence Force had received a low number of complaints about noise from the range, but it was concerned that if the number of complaints increased the military may be required to limit its operations beyond the current procedures used to manage noise.
"This would have significant consequences for the New Zealand Defence Force and potentially New Zealand security," she said.
"In particular, restrictions on the New Zealand Defence Force's operations at the range could make it more difficult for it to ensure that soldiers can be adequately trained.
"The New Zealand Defence Force's experience is that no-complaints covenants are an effective and low-cost measure of mitigating the risk of reverse sensitivity effects arising from development in close proximity to noisy defence facilities."
The hearing continues.
