Deadline looms for appeals against Taranaki seabed mining approval

Wednesday, 30 August 2017

Whanau members Raukura Waitai, Akina Hawira 6, Te Huatahi Hawira and Rahera Ocean Hawira 2, at a protest against seabed mining held in Hawera on Tuesday.

The opportunity for legal challenges against the Environmental Protection Agency's controversial decision to allow seabed mining off South Taranaki closes on Thursday.

Two of the organisations which have fought Trans Tasman Resources' application to mine 50 million tonnes of material from the seabed off Patea for iron ore have confirmed they will lodge appeals by the cutoff of 5pm.

Patea resident Hemi Ngarewa is hugged by his daughter Debbie Ngarewa-Packer after the decision to allow seabed mining in the South Taranaki Bight was announced on August 10.

'Te Runanga o Ngāti Ruanui Trust will lodge an appeal against the Environmental Protection Authority's decision on Thursday,' kaiarataki Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said.

Environmental group Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM) was also filing an appeal, spokesman Chris Wilkes said.

* Iwi will appeal ironsand mining off Taranaki coast

* The TTR iron sand mining decision report: 10 points**

Details on the appeal would be released once it was filed.

The decision to allow mining was announced earlier this month. It would allow TTR to export five million tonnes of iron sand every year for 35 years.

More than 13,700 submissions were received by the EPA, the majority of which opposed the application.

Ngati Ruanui has continued to protest the decision while it has been preparing for the court battle, with public protests held on the beach at Patea on August 20 and another at Waihi Beach, Hawera, on Tuesday.

The tribe has asked top New Zealand public QC Francis Cooke to lead its appeal and is prepared to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court should its High Court appeal fail, Ngarewa-Packer told reporters.

On Tuesday the Green Party announced it would seek to create a whale sanctuary off the coast to protect the endangered blue whales and other sea mammals, and prevent the mining from going ahead.

'This is something that affects the whole community and we are proud to see so many different organisations coming together to show their opposition to seabed mining,' Ngarewa-Packer said.

Last year a 6000-signature petition was presented to parliament by KASM and Ngati Ruanui calling for a moratorium on seabed mining.

The final decision, released by the EPA on August 10, revealed a split 2:2 between the four members of its decision-making committee, with chairman Alick Shaw making the casting vote to approve the application.

An earlier application by the company in 2014 was declined.

The current application covers an area of 66 square kilometres between 22km and 36km off the west coast of South Taranaki within New Zealand's exclusive economic zone.

In its application, TTR has said it would be 'a sustainable and world leading development' that would have little environmental effect.

The venture is also opposed by environmental groups Greenpeace and Forest & Bird, and by Talley's Fisheries which also submitted against the mining when a previous application by TTR was declined by the EPA in 2014.