Southland District Council wins court case in coal exploration stoush

Tuesday, 7 March 2023

The Bathurst Resources Ltd owned Takitimu coal mine, at Nightcaps. The coal in the mine is expected to run out in about 2027 and Bathurst Resources is seeking to establish a new coal mine on Southland District Council land nearby, but first must apply for a publicly notified consent.

The Southland District Council was correct to grant a company access to its forestry land near Ohai for coal exploration, the High Court has found.

Bathurst Resources is seeking to establish a new coal mine in the area, to be operated by its wholly-owned subsidiary New Brighton Collieries.

The council granted New Brighton Collieries access to the council’s forestry land for coal exploration, but the decision was challenged by the Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society.

Forest & Bird argued the decision was unlawful on several grounds, including that the council failed to consider community views.

* Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of coal under Southland forestry block

* Forest & Bird calls for judicial review of council decision

Southland District mayor Rob Scott says the High Court decision is a vindication of the council’s decision to grant New Brighton Colleries access for exploration only.

In its judgement released on March 6, the High Court said none of Forest & Bird’s grounds for review of the council’s decision were upheld, and it dismissed the application.

It said the council’s decision to grant access did not amount to an approval to mine for coal.

The judgement finds that it was reasonable, in reaching the access decision, that the council have regard to the fact there would be later opportunities for public consultation, when the actual extraction of coal was considered.

Southland District Mayor Rob Scott said it was a vindication of the council’s decision to grant New Brighton Colleries access for exploration only.

“We ensured that there was going to be an opportunity for the public to have their input in a final decision by requiring the consent to be publicly notified if it proceeded to the next stage.”

The land in question is located adjacent to State Highway 96, between Ohai and Nightcaps.

Bathurst Resources owns and operates the Takitimu coal mine near Nightcaps, but the pit is running out of coal.

The nearby land has a known coal deposit beneath the council property.

Bathurst Resources chief executive Richard Tacon was pleased by the court result, but said he lamented the waste of valuable court time on matters of “lawfare”.

The exploration phase had already been completed before the judicial review was raised, which Forest & Bird had known, he said.

The Takitimu coal mine was expected to run out of coal in about 2027 - a decade before the Government was phasing out existing coal boilers as a response to climate change.

Tacon said its commercial customers would transition away from coal ahead of the 2037 deadline, but in the interim they would need coal for process heat to continue operating their businesses. This was where the new mine would come in.

“We are attempting to ensure that they have the energy required to bridge the gap.”

Bathurst Resources would not apply for resource consent for coal extraction until it had completed an assessment of the environmental effects, and addressed any residual effects to a standard acceptable to the community, not Forest & Bird, he said.

Forest & Bird campaigns advisor George Hobson said it would consider the court decision before deciding its next step.

Climate change was everyone’s responsibility and the world could not have new coal mines if it wanted a safe climate, he said.

“The International Energy Agency has called for an immediate end to new coal mines and the UN secretary-general has said all planned coal projects should be cancelled.

“Every year, a new region of New Zealand has been suffering from massive floods, including Southland. Our elected decision makers need to step up and tackle these threats head on.”