Jo Appleyard Jo Appleyard

Jo Appleyard

Partner
Christchurch

Litigation & dispute resolution
Environmental, planning & resource management

Jo specialises in civil litigation and in providing strategic advice on the full range of environmental and resource management issues.

She has over 30 years’ experience and is an extremely well regarded senior practitioner with a diverse practice that includes Canterbury’s key infrastructure providers (Christchurch International Airport, Lyttelton Port Company and Orion New Zealand), along with various RMA clients in areas that include natural resources, infrastructure, urban development, marine and iwi. Her experience in civil disputes is wide and varied, acting on all manner of commercial issues.

Jo is recognised in the Hall of Fame by Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024. She is also recognised as a Band 1 lawyer by Chambers Asia Pacific 2024 and as a Leading Lawyer by Chambers Global 2020. As a part of the team that led the Lyttelton Port recovery project, she was awarded the Resource Management Law Awards Project Award in 2019.

Recent highlights

  • Advised Canterbury Cricket Trust to obtain approvals to construct and operate six lighting towers at 48.9 metres high and other operational requirements at the Hagley Oval in Hagley Park.
  • Assisting Lyttelton Port Company to consent large and complex projects that were effectively fast-tracked by the Lyttelton Port Recovery Plan. These projects involved activities in the coastal marine area and raised complex environmental and cultural issues.
  • Represented Sanford in an aquaculture consenting application to enable a significant increase in production at Sanford’s salmon farms on Big Glory Bay, Stewart Island, New Zealand.
  • Acted for Dairy Holdings in relation to major climate change litigation targeting corporate defendants for responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Acting for Christchurch International Airport on numerous resource consents and plan issues, particularly in relation to noise and bird strike issues.
  • Assisting numerous employers on redundancy and other employment issues (including managing staffing issues through COVID-19).

Jo's insights

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lyttelton harbour

Award-winner for Lyttelton Port Recovery Plan

Chapman Tripp has been recognised by the Resource Management Law Association for its exemplary work on the Lyttelton Port Recovery Project.

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auckland harbour bridge

Dealing to the infrastructure deficit

New Zealand’s sagging infrastructure is inhibiting the economy and our quality of life, in the form of gridlock, lost production, unaffordable housing, environmental degradation, and more...

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Others in the team

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