The Invercargill City Council today (Monday 4 April) lodged a charging document in the Invercargill District Court alleging that the Niagara Sawmilling Company Ltd has breached the night-time noise rule in the District Plan.

Invercargill City Council’s Director of Environmental and Planning Services, Pamela Gare, said the area where the breach occurred was to the east side of the Remanufacturing Plant along Kennington Road.

Mrs Gare said Niagara Sawmilling would tomorrow (Tuesday 5 April) be served with papers requiring company representatives to attend Court in Invercargill on 5 May to enter a plea.

The company would also be served with an Abatement Notice requiring it to comply with noise requirements for the Remanufacturing Plant area.

Today Council granted a six-month resource consent for the Niagara Sawmilling Company Ltd for the Niagara Main Mill to exceed the night time noise limits in the District Plan for the areas south of the Niagara Sawmilling Company’s property.

During this six months, Niagara will be doing further work to mitigate noise at the sawmill.

Mrs Gare said the Invercargill City Council was unable to make further comment on the matter as it was before the Court.