Hawke's Bay council in court over feedlot pollution

A Hawke's Bay businessman, Simon Lusk, is taking the regional council to the Environment Court over its failure to regulate feedlots he says are polluting the district. Mr Lusk says the practice -where animals are fattened up over winter in confined paddocks -is in breach of the council rules, because of the damage the cows and their effluent cause to the soil and groundwater. Hawke's Bay Regional Council chief executive James Palmer says he's not aware of any feedlots breaking the rules, but he agrees those rules may need to change.