Source: Radio New Zealand
Dog Lovers of Monte Cecilia Incorporated Society challenged a local board’s decision with a judicial review. RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Auckland Council spent more than $100,000 fighting a group of aggrieved dog owners in court.
After a local board removed an off-leash dog area at Monte Cecilia Park in central Auckland, locals created the Dog Lovers of Monte Cecilia Incorporated Society to challenge the decision with a judicial review, which took place at the High Court in February.
Information supplied by the council under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA), which RNZ has seen, shows the council spent $109,768.41 responding to the legal action brought against it between July 2025 and March 2026.
That included hiring a King’s Counsel, Katherine Anderson, to represent them in court.
The Dog Lovers Of Monte Cecilia were represented by lawyer George Barton, who took on their case pro bono.
The group raised almost $13,000 to cover other legal fees.
Justice Andrew Becroft is yet to release his judgment on the matter. But in court, he urged the two sides to find a resolution outside of the courtroom.
“For what is an area the size of a running track, there is vast resources being sunk into this by the Council, and there’s a huge amount of work going into this.
“I don’t want to diminish anybody’s emotional connection to the area or to their dogs. But you’d think for what is a reasonably small area, that there might be a way of resolving it short of both sides throwing the legal kitchen sink at the decision-making.”
Auckland Council’s general counsel, Meredith Webb, said the council would attempt to recover costs should a ruling fall in their favour.
“Judicial reviews, like this one, are litigation brought against the council, so we have no choice but to respond and incur costs to defend the claim.
“We have sought to deliver this litigation as cost-effectively as possible, using our internal team who appeared together with an external barrister at the hearing.
“Costs were larger than initially anticipated due to an interlocutory application that was later withdrawn by the applicant, the need to respond to lengthy legal submissions filed by the applicant and unexpected procedural steps.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown was critical of the Dog Lovers group and their legal bid.
“It’s a disgraceful waste of money brought by a small group of people who don’t understand the costs that they inflict on society.”
Spokesperson Jonathan Sweeney said while he was frustrated by the amount of ratepayers’ money spent, the Monte Cecilia community had a right to speak out against what they considered to be an overwhelmingly unpopular decision.
“Eighty-eight percent of people disagreed with the local board as part of the council’s public consultation.
“The council’s own staff said to maintain the status quo.
“All we have done is stand up for ourselves and say, we don’t agree with what you’re doing.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
