Coal mine proposed for West Coast reserve land challenged in court
Monday, 13 February 2017
A council's decision to allow coal mining on 'pristine' public reserve land will be challenged in court.
The Buller District Council has allowed Rangitira Development Ltd to develop an open-cast coal mine on reserve land near Westport on the South Island's West Coast.
The proposed mine, on the ridge of Mount Te Kuha, would be about 100 hectares. Most of the mine would be on a Water Conservation Reserve administered by the council.
The mine would be clearly visible from Westport and require clearance of intact forest, home to numerous rare species including great spotted kiwi.
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About 12 hectares of the proposed mine would be in the Mt Rochfort Conservation Area, conservation land managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC).
The company has asked DOC for permission to use its land.
The application was publicly notified and DOC is yet to release its decision.
Environmental group Forest & Bird on Monday filed in the Christchurch High Court, asking for a judicial review of the council's decision to allow use of reserve land.
The group said it believed the council was in violation of the Reserves Act 1977, which required the council to administer the reserve 'in a manner consistent with its purpose'.
The area was pristine and needed to be protected, Forest & Bird chief executive Kevin Hague said.
'This ridgeline is one of the last remnants of the outstanding Buller plateau landscape, and is home to threatened bird and lizard species including the great spotted kiwi, the South Island fernbird and the West Coast green gecko,' he said.
'This is yet another example of nature being up for grabs. Our natural heritage, held in public reserves, is being turned over to developers for private gain.'
The company's application, filed in 2014, said the mine would create 64 jobs and contribute $20 million annually to the local economy.
The coal in the deposit was of high quality, the company said, and could be used for steel-making.
Both the company and DOC said there would be negative conservation impacts associated with the mining.
DOC experts who reviewed the application said those impacts would be significant.
'It is evident the proposal has the potential to have significant adverse effects on the conservation values of the land, including some values that are nationally significant,' a DOC report said.
Among the adverse effects were the deaths of individual birds, which was almost certain during land clearance.
DOC's report agreed with the applicant that the projected benefits would be 'undoubtedly significant' for the local economy.
Hague said that some places had already been lost to development and we needed to protect what was left.
'[DOC] has described the mine site as being 'one of two of the most intact remaining examples of this habitat type'.
'We've already lost Stockton and Denniston to the 'boom and bust' coal industry – isn't it time to protect what's left?'
The group would be watching to see whether DOC would allow mining on conservation land, he said.