Our Team
Martin Williams
Martin Williams has over 25 years of experience practising in resource management and local government law. He has represented a wide range of private and public sector clients at local authority and appeal hearings, appearing as counsel in a number of leading Environment and High Court cases as well as in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. For an overview of those cases, refer to the schedule.
Martin also has experience advising and representing local authorities and Council controlled organisations, including as part of the legal team advising and representing Hawke’s Bay Regional Investment Company Ltd regarding the Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme through the Board of Inquiry process and hearing, and subsequent High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court proceedings.
Martin is a former President of the Resource Management Law Association of New Zealand (Inc) serving on the National Committee of that Association for nine years.
While Martin’s experience in the Courtroom is significant (refer to schedule), some of the best work in environmental and local Government law is done ‘behind the scenes’; thorough preparation and strategic oversight, and by employing alternative dispute resolution pathways to avoid the need for a formal hearing.
Martin has extensive experience successfully practising in these highly specialised areas of law with that objective.
Martin is an accredited Hearing Commissioner (Chair Certification) under the Ministry for the Environment Making Good Decisions programme.
Martin was elected to the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council in 2019 and is Chair of the Regional Council Hearings Committee and Hawke’s Bay Transport Committee.
Martin Williams
Barrister
0274 490 676
PO Box 754, Napier 4140
Trevor Robinson
Trevor Robinson has practised in the environmental field for nearly 40 years. For a number of years as a partner in the Wellington office of Buddle Findlay, Trevor combined environmental/ resource management law with a civil litigation and superannuation trust practice. However, since moving to the bar in 2004, he has practised almost exclusively in resource management.
Over the last 20 years, Trevor has acted as lead counsel on a number of consent processes for large infrastructure projects, most recently for Contact Energy on the reconsenting of its electricity generation operations on the Wairākei Geothermal Field. That has required the ability to work collaboratively in large multi-disciplinary teams over long periods of time, staying across the detail of often complex projects, and understanding how different elements factor into case strategy.
Trevor is an accredited Hearing Commissioner (Chair Certification) under the Ministry for the Environment’s Making Good Decisions programme, and in recent years, he has acted as an independent hearing commissioner on both regional and district plan processes. That has included being a member of the Hearing Panel on Waikato Regional Plan Change 1 (aka Healthy Rivers) and chairing Commissioner Panels hearing submissions on the Proposed Queenstown Lakes and Porirua District Plans.
After 33 years of practising throughout the country from a Wellington base, Trevor moved to Hawke’s Bay in April 2022 to join Martin Williams in chambers.
Trevor Robinson
Barrister
0274 468 644
PO Box 8334, Havelock North 4157