A Whanganui councillor is condemning a decision to move a mining company’s South Taranaki seabed application into the next stage of the fast-track approvals process.
First-term councillor Charlotte Melser is urging affected councils and iwi to unite in opposition to the proposal by Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) to mine 50 million tonnes of iron sand per year for 35 years over 66 square kilometres of the South Taranaki Bight.
“At what point is enough, enough?” Melser said, speaking to Local Democracy Reporting.
“Despite significant opposition from all coastal communities, multiple declined consents and massive gaps in the application in terms of environmental mitigation, the Government has rolled out the red carpet to the back door through the fast-track process and brought this application back from the dead.”
The process was established by the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 to streamline infrastructure and development projects deemed to have significant regional or national benefits.
TTR’s application passed the first hurdle last week when the Environmental Protection Authority marked it as complete.
In the next step, the authority had 10 days to check for any competing applications and existing consents before the application moved to a panel convener to appoint an expert panel and set a timeframe for it to make a decision.
If no timeframe was set, the panel must make a decision within 30 working days of the deadline for receiving comments from invited parties.
On Tuesday morning, Melser delivered a petition against the seabed mining application to Whanganui District Council and planned to present the same petition — signed by more than 3000 people — to New Plymouth District Council’s strategy and operations committee in the afternoon.
She saidlocal councils could be the only bodies invited to make submissions to the expert panel.
“In the past, lots of individuals have been able to give evidence in the hearings but that’s not possible under fast-track. Only invited parties can make submissions.
“What I’m angling for is a united voice from all of the affected district councils and regional councils.”
Melser said the fast-track process cut out the voices of individuals such as divers and recreational users who knew the marine area best.
“So it’s up to councils and iwi and affected parties to speak for their communities and make strong submissions to the EPA.
“At this stage, it’s really important for individuals to contact their elected members, their iwi representatives and their MPs to show sustained opposition.”
The petition from Concerned Communities of Taranaki and Manawatu Against Seabed Mining called on all impacted councils to seek independent advice and review of economic and environmental assessments to ensure all relevant information was provided to the decision-making panel.
“When weighing up the benefits of any project of any development, you need to consider all of the costs including social and environmental,” Melser said.
“It’s important to ask ourselves what is our bottom line, what are we willing to lose?
“When you look at all the evidence, that coastal marine area is just thriving with abundance and it’s a taonga that is worth preserving.”
Concerned Communities said in its petition that this type of seabed mining had not been carried out anywhere else in the world and was “experimental”.
The proposal to return 45 million tonnes per year of processed sand to the seabed would create sediment plumes that could significantly impact rich but delicate ecosystems and precious marine life, the petition said.
TTR: ‘Growth, jobs and minimised environmental impact’
Trans-Tasman Resources executive chairman Alan Eggers said he was pleased the application was moving forward in the fast-track process.
“We believe we have proposed a set of operating conditions and management plans to generate much-needed growth, create high-paying jobs and minimise any environmental impacts in the STB [South Taranaki Bight],” he said in a statement.
In a recent Local Democracy Reporting article, Eggers said de-ored sands would be returned immediately to the seafloor in a controlled process to minimise suspended sediment in the water.
An economic impact assessment by New Zealand Institute of Economic Research said the project would generate $850 million in annual export earnings and more than 1350 jobs, including 300 in Taranaki and Whanganui.
“Those numbers are overinflated,” Melser said. “There are a number of gaps in their report.”
She told her council that Whanganui would see none of the economic benefit.
“But we will see all of the environmental impact because of the travel of sediment plume.”
In December, the Whanganui council unanimously backed a motion from Melser to formally oppose the seabed mining application.
Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe agreed last week to have the petition added to the council meeting agenda as a late item. Usually, petitions have to be received five working days in advance of the meeting but Tripe used mayoral discretion to waive the rule.
The council agreed to receive the petition, with all votes in favour. Melser abstained as she presented the petition.
TTR’s application was expected to be made public on the Government’s fast-track website next month.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
