25 Jan 2013

Maori trust beats 1080 opponent in court

7:37 pm on 25 January 2013

A veteran oponent of using 1080 poison to kill possums has lost his latest bid in the courts to stop a Maori organisation using the compound.

David Livingston asked for a review of the Lake Taupo Forest Trust, after the Maori Land Court previously refused to grant an injunction against the trustees .

Mr Livingston sought a technical change to a trust directive to prevent trustees using 1080 on their land - or to allow owners of individual blocks of land to ask for termination of trust over their whenua.

The trustees opposed the application, and it has now been rejected by the Maori Land Court.

The judge in the case noted that the Lake Taupo Forest Trust is one of the most significant Maori land administrators in Aotearoa - and has proved itself to be a model of commercial forestry.