There was standing room only as Hutt City residents objected to plans to list their land on the District Plan.

An environmental headache just keeps getting worse for the Hutt City Council.

Councillors recently rejected a controversial proposal to list Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) on private land on the District Plan.

Now Forest and Bird (F&B) has gone to the Environment Court to reverse that decision.

Supplied Forest and Bird have ignored an open letter from Mayor Ray Wallace and have instead gone to court to protect biodiversity in Lower Hutt.

The council had announced it would map SNAs only on council land, and work with landowners who voluntarily agreed to protect biodiversity on private land.

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Following the announcement, F&B said the Environment Court had already rejected the voluntary approach being advocated and that SNAs were a legal requirement.

Hutt City Mayor Ray Wallace subsequently issued an open letter urging F&B to work with the community to find a way of "turning around the crisis facing our native plants and animals".

"You say you are 'the voice for nature in our communities'. We hope you will join with us as we work to design a solution that protects and enhances the important natural environment we have here in Lower Hutt."

On Thursday F&B filed papers in the Environment Court seeking a declaration and enforcement orders.

If successful it would require the council to renew its process of mapping SNAs on private land.

F&B Lower North Island regional manager Tom Kay said the council was failing to meet its legal obligations and that a voluntary approach wasn't enough.

Diana Clark, who is part of a group that opposed SNAs and organised a petition that collected more than 2100 signatures was disappointed F&B had gone to court.

"I think they were a wee bit premature. I don't think they have given the landowners or the council time to put their plan in to action."

Landowners wanted to protect biodiversity but did not want it forced upon them by the District Plan, she said.

As well as a lack of consultation, Clark said the council should have done more to accurately identify biodiversity on private land that was worth protecting.

Hutt City council resilience manager Kim Kelly declined to comment on the legal move.

"It was a council decision not to enforce the officer's recommendations so you need to get some comment from the mayor and councillors."

A spokesman for the mayor said he had a full calendar and referred Stuff to the open letter.