A Marlborough farmer who destroyed part of a wetland conservation area near his home in Rarangi has had his appeal thrown out by the Supreme Court.
Philip Woolley used a digger to excavate a drainage channel, destroying a 10m wide strip of vegetation.
Mr Woolley was convicted under the Resource Management Act last year for his destruction of the wetland reserve near Blenheim.
He appealed against the decision, arguing he was maintaining an existing drainage channel, something he believed was allowed as a regional rule under the local Resource Management Plan.
But that has been rejected by both the Marlborough District Council and the Court of Appeal, and now the Supreme Court.
The council has declined to comment as there are other cases before the courts involving Mr Woolley and his dairy farming business.
