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RNZ News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Councils in Lower North Island against downgraded expressway plans
Two district councils in the Lower North Island are banding together against down graded plans for an expressway through their districts. More than a decade since it was originally proposed - a revised design for the Otaki to North of Levin expressway has seen on-ramps and overbridges removed and interchanges replaced by roundabouts. Council and community advocates from the Kapiti and Horowhenua districts say the sudden change has left locals confused and appalled. Bill Hickman has more. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Otago Daily Times
17-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Opponents livid as seabed mine project clears fast-track hurdle
By Bill Hickman of RNZ A company's plan to mine 50 million tonnes of South Taranaki seabed every year has cleared the first hurdle in the Fast-track process. Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) executive chair Alan Eggers said he was "delighted" the company's application for its Taranaki VTM project had been accepted as complete and would now move on to the next stage of the process. Opponents, meanwhile, are "livid" and have vowed to continue their fight against the project. TTR wants to mine 50 million tonnes of seabed a year for 30 years in the South Taranaki Bight. Eggers said the company had identified a world-class vanadium resource that could contribute $1 billion annually to the economy. "It'll generate export revenues of around $850 million a year which will make it New Zealand's 11th or 12th largest exporter. "Within the region it'll generate about 1150 jobs. We would spend about $230m annually and it'll generate $190m in government royalties and taxes per annum," Eggers said. Eggers denied the approval process was a "short cut" to avoid environmental compliance. "We still have to comply with the embedded safeguards for the environment in the EEZ Act [Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf Act 2012]. The Fast Track Act includes us having to comply with all the conditions and management plans that were approved under the EEZ Act." He said the project planned to magnetically extract and export 5 million tonnes of heavy mineral sands containing iron ore and the critical minerals vanadium and titanium each year. "Our research and marine reports have been independently peer reviewed by international experts in their areas in terms of marine ecologies and plume effects," Eggers said. Opponents warns of harm to wildlife, environment Greenpeace seabed mining campaigner Juressa Lee said dumping the remaining 45 million tonnes of sand back in to ocean each year would threaten marine life such as the pygmy blue whale, Māui and Hector's dolphins and the world smallest species of penguin, kororā - which migrated through the area. "Investors in TTR's project are trying to pull the wool over the public's eyes, telling us to 'trust the science'. But TTR has never been able to alleviate the courts' concerns for harmful impacts on wildlife and the environment." The head of Kiwi's Against Seabed Mining is "livid" at the approval. Cindy Baxter says there is "massive opposition" to the project, and seabed mining in general. "A couple of weeks ago we saw 500 hundred people paddle out in Ōpunake against seabed mining. You've got many of the councils who are against it, you've got all the iwi, you've got surfers, you've got people who love their ocean, even the fishing industry is against it." People were angry at being "shut out" of the approval process, she said. "We're not allowed to make submissions - and it's the public opposition that has stopped this process so far - so that's why Christopher Luxon's government has shut us out of the process." If the project was successfully approved, it would create a precedent for seabed mining on coastlines all across the country, Baxter believed. "When we first started opposing this in 2012 there were companies all waiting in the wings for this first application to get across the line and, if it does, it'll be open slather on our coastlines." Activists would continue to oppose the project. "We will continue to make our voices heard and we're going to fight this all the way - as far as we can - through the courts. If we need to get into boats and go out into the ocean to stop them we'll do that as well," Baxter said.
RNZ News
12-05-2025
- RNZ News
Police investigating multiple complaints against Wellington man
crime police about 1 hour ago Wellington police have confirmed they are investigating multiple complaints about a Wellington man which RNZ understands to be of a sexual nature. Police reporter Bill Hickman spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.
RNZ News
02-05-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
Wellington mops up but storm power cuts, travel chaos lingers
A damaged car on Rintoul St, Wellington, following Thursday's storm. Photo: Bill Hickman / RNZ The blustery wind and driving rain have died down in the capital but power cuts, ferry cancellations, flight backlogs and rubberneckers are causing the biggest nuisance as the city mops up from Thursday's storm. Hundreds of properties are still without power and Wellington Electricity warned that could continue for some until the middle of next week. Some areas had power restored on Thursday but continued high winds on Friday saw some new outages, and repeat outages, as trees and debris were blown into powerlines, a spokesperson said. Windy weather in Johnsonville, Wellington. Photo: Supplied/Jillian Talbot "Our first priority is to attend any faults which present a safety concern, with our next priority being to restore power to the largest affected areas," they said. "As there is significant fault repair work still to be undertaken, we expect power to be restored by the middle of next week. " On Newtown's Owen Street, Nat Chesterfield and her flat of seven people - plus the cat - had been without power since about 1.30pm on Thursday, when it went out with a bang. "The power was flickering on the power lines just outside my house and there were a few loud explosion sounds," she said. "Then it was a final explosion and it all went out." Chesterfield had gone into the office today for a shower and to charge her devices. She and her flatmates were layering up with clothing and blankets to keep warm and had a gas stove so they could at least boil water for a cuppa. Meanwhile, Kezia Thompson and her partner had packed up and gone to her sister's place in Upper Hutt. It would be "pretty stressful" if the power cut stretched into next week, she said - but she was more concerned for people who may not have anywhere else to go. Both Whakamaru - the Wellington City Mission's Newtown facility - and the Newtown Community Centre were open for people to charge devices and get hot food and drinks. Council contractors were forced to call police as people tried to get through roadblocks on the South Coast. Some Wellington City Councillors told the public to stop rubbernecking and allow contractors to clear the areas. A fallen tree outside Wellington Cathedral of St Paul. Photo: RNZ/Samuel Rillstone Ben McNulty said people "going for a casual gawk are slowing things down considerably". Nurredin Abdurahman said the police were there to "make sure people who are doing their job on the ground will not be disrupted" - but also to keep people from injuring themselves. Photo: RNZ/Reece Baker Coastal roads across Lower Hutt and Wellington reopened on Friday after being battered by swells and debris, but both city councils asked people to take care and avoid unnecessary travel while contractors clean up. Marine Parade closed at Days Bay. Photo: RNZ / Elizabeth Brown And after 200 flights were cancelled in and out of the capital on Thursday, airlines were scrambling to rebook tens of thousands of people - some of whom got their sleeping bags out to kip on the airport floor. Most flights went ahead as scheduled on Friday, but travellers told RNZ it had been a frustrating and pricey process to rebook. Wellington Airport, 200 flights were cancelled in and out of the capital on Thursday. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Air New Zealand said it would take days to clear the backlog, and ferry operators were facing the same fate. As sea swells continued to rage, both Interislander and Bluebridge cancelled sailings until Saturday morning. Island Bay, Wellington, during the stormy weather on Thursday. Photo: RNZ / Mary Argue They were putting on extra sailings over the weekend to get people across the Cook Strait. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
