At yesterday’s council meeting deputy mayor Neil Gillespie, the chairman of the council hearings panel, was nominated to be on the expert panel to assess the application.
Council infrastructure and planning group manager Louise van der Voort said Santana Minerals had indicated it would be lodging an application later this month.
While the applicant had to consult with the council before applying for fast-track consent, legislation did not specify what details or level of consultation was required.
The council could nominate a councillor to be on the four-person expert panel, which would be decided by a judge.
Other opportunities for the council to be involved in the process would be by commenting on a key issues report on the application and by commenting on draft conditions.
Responses would be required in set timeframes with no extensions.
The councillors nominated Mayor Tamah Alley and Cr Sarah Browne to approve the council’s key issues report for the Bendigo-Ophir Gold project.
Ms van der Voort said because the timeframe for responding to applications was likely to be tight it was necessary to have the nominations and specialists in place.
It was important for the council to be involved to provide planning advice and ensure appropriate conditions were applied around a variety of issues including landscape, ecology, noise and remediation and associated conditions around a bond, she said.
The project has been predicted to mine billions of dollars worth of gold and employ hundreds of people.
julie.asher@alliedpress.co.nz
