Senior Associate, Wellington

Esther Bennett

Esther Bennett

Contact

Profile

Esther specialises in environmental and resource management law, acting for a range of public and private sector clients including local authorities, charitable organisations and large commercial companies.

Esther has appeared in council-level, Environment Court and High Court hearings and mediations on resource consenting and planning matters.  She was part of the pro bono legal team that successfully represented the New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA) and SAFE in High Court judicial review proceedings relating to the use of pig farrowing crates, and is on the pro bono legal team for NZALA and SAFE in current High Court judicial review proceedings relating to rodeo practices in New Zealand.

Prior to joining Buddle Findlay, Esther worked in health and social care regulatory law for a firm in London as well as in the dispute resolution group at New Zealand's Ministry of Social Development.

  • Member of the Resource Management Law Association
  • Executive Member of the New Zealand Animal Law Association

Experience

Sector / Expertise

Work highlights

Acting for Creswell NZ

in Environment Court, High Court and Court of Appeal proceedings regarding the consenting of a water bottling plant expansion

Representing Tararua District Council

in Environment Court appeals regarding the reconsenting of its Pahiatua and Eketāhuna wastewater infrastructure

Representing Hutt City Council

in the consenting of the Eastern Bays Shared Path project in Eastbourne, Wellington

Acting on a pro-bono basis for the New Zealand Animal Law Association and Save Animals from Exploitation (SAFE)

in judicial review proceedings regarding the use of, and policy and laws around, pig farrowing crates and rodeo

Advising Pāmu (Landcorp)

on various resource management issues including Waikato Regional Council's Proposed Regional Plan Change 1, certificates of compliance, consent lapse periods, and general RMA compliance and enforcement

Assisting with the resource consent preparation for RiverLink

a partnership project between Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, Hutt City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council involving flood protection, roading and infrastructure works in and around Te Awa Kairangi

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Related insights

Sort by: Date | Title

Update

Highlights from the proposed Natural and Built Environments Act

As highlighted in our alert last week, the Government has released an exposure draft of the new Natural and Built Environments Bill (E…

9 July 2021

Alert

First exposure draft of the Natural and Built Environments Bill released

The Government today released the exposure draft of the Natural and Built Environments Bill (NBA), the core land use and environmental…

29 June 2021

Update

COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Bill

The current focus on COVID-19 has seen the introduction of the COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Bill (Bill) on 16 June 2020,…

19 June 2020

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Alternate contacts

David Allen

Partner, Wellington

David specialises in all aspects of resource management, environmental and natural resources law and local government law. He is a…

  • DDI +64 4 462 0423
  • M +64 21 955 744

Email

David Randal

Partner, Wellington

David specialises in resource management, environmental and conservation law, public law, general civil litigation and Māori law. He…

  • DDI +64 4 462 0450
  • M +64 21 742 863

Email

Paul Beverley

Partner, Wellington

Paul was the national chair of Buddle Findlay from 2017 to March 2020. Paul specialises in resource management planning and consenting…

  • DDI +64 4 462 0406
  • M +64 21 276 9322

Email