The company behind quarrying on Saddle Hill has had its request for Environment Court proceedings to be put on hold denied.
The High Court decision comes after Saddle Views Estate sought a stay in proceedings so it could appeal an interim decision made by Judge Jon Jackson in the Environment Court last month.
That decision suggested a 1960 consent for quarrying on the lower of Saddle Hill’s two humps, Jaffray Hill, "has no ongoing effect" and work should have ceased more than 50 years ago.
Saddle Views Estate counsel Trevor Shiels QC argued it would be more convenient for the High Court to deal with its appeal now rather than when the Environment Court issued its final decision.
Mr Shiels argued the interim decision contained an "error of law" and meant it was now "facing a case made by the Environment Court, not by the city".
In a written decision, Justice Rachel Dunningham disagreed with Mr Shiels, saying it would be more convenient to put the appeal on hold until Judge Jackson issued his final decision.
The appeal would largely centre on whether it was within the Environment Court’s jurisdiction to conclude the consent had no ongoing effect, when it had been asked by the council to consider what the terms of the consent were.
Justice Dunningham said it was possible the Environment Court’s final decision would come to a different conclusion about the consent.
"[It] will be more efficient for an appeal to be heard after the court’s final decision is made and in light of the decision actually made and the reasons given for it, rather than to make a decision in a void where it is not clear what the Environment Court proposes to do."
