Latest news with #Birchfield
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
CCSO: Man with 400+ grams of meth arrested
CARTER COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — A Hampton man arrested on May 9 faces various drug charges after police reportedly found more than 400 grams of methamphetamine in his possession. According to a news release from the Carter County Sheriff's Office (CCSO), Scottie Allen Birchfield was arrested after a joint investigation involving the following agencies: Elizabethton Police Department Johnson City Police Department Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Department of Homeland Security Investigations North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Birchfield, 51, was wanted out of Carter County on a warrant for failure to appear in court and an attachment for child support, the CCSO reported. He was also wanted in connection with an investigation involving drugs and firearms. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now 'Birchfield was recently featured in the TBI's 'Fugitive Friday' list after multiple attempts to take him into custody that resulted in pursuits where he was able to evade capture,' the CCSO said in the release. An investigation by the CCSO and JCPD determined that Birchfield was staying at a motel in Johnson City, where he was later arrested. A search of the motel room found the following items, according to the CCSO: Loaded 9mm Smith & Wesson M&P handgun $14,000+ in cash Digital scales Plastic baggies Approximately 424 grams of suspected methamphetamine As of Thursday, Birchfield remains in the Carter County Detention Center on outstanding warrants. The sheriff's office said additional charges are pending. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Otago Daily Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Executive defends consultant use
West Coast Regional Council chief executive Darryl Lew is defending the council's use of consultancy firms for resource consents, while also hitting back at criticisms made from Cr Allan Birchfield. Cr Birchfield — a Greymouth goldminer and former regional council chairman — claimed that the council's consents and compliance team had grown from four in his day to 13, yet the council was still using North Island consultancy firms. Consultants were delaying and declining gold mining water consents and asking "stupid" questions as they were unfamiliar with the industry and the West Coast, Cr Birchfield claimed. But Mr Lew said the regional council employed seven full-time compliance or consents officers, and stood by the integrity of its resource consent process and the professionalism of its staff and contracted consultants. "The most recent quarterly report to council presented yesterday shows all 27 resource consents issued during that quarter were processed within the statutory timeframe permitted." The council employed consultancies at times to help with resource consent work, especially when there was an increased workload or reduced in-house capacity, Mr Lew said. That was the case now, with several notified applications on the books, including the Mananui Mineral Sands Mining consent. "When consents officers are managing multiple large-scale applications progressing to hearings, they require extensive assessment and often occupy most of an officer's workload." Mr Birchfield claimed that Wellington consultants had asked questions a competent local consents officer would not have. Mr Lew said the consulting firms all had to follow the same statutory process under the RMA and a consent authority had to have enough information to make a fully informed decision. "Consultants are expected, as are council consents officers, to seek further information where needed, including site visits, local mapping, or input from regional staff to ensure the specific context of an application is understood." The costs fell on the person applying for the consent, whether the work was done in-house or by a consultant. The council had an open door for applicants and the agents submitting applications on their behalf and was happy to speak to them directly, Mr Lew said. Cr Birchfield also claimed that council compliance staff had been taking police escorts on site visits recently and turning up without notice after heavy rain had muddied creeks. Mr Lew said staff had not taken police escorts to inspect mines. It was a requirement of resource consents for mining operations to control water during rainfall events, he said. • LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air. By Lois Williams
Scoop
09-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
West Coast Council Boss Defends Use Of North Island Consultants
West Coast Regional Council boss Darryl Lew is defending the council's use of consultancy firms for resource consents, while also hitting back at criticisms made from Cr Allan Birchfield. Mr Birchfield - a Greymouth goldminer and former regional council chair - claimed that the council's Consents and Compliance team has grown from four in his day to thirteen, yet the council is still using North Island consultancy firms. Consultants were delaying and declining gold mining water consents and asking 'stupid' questions because they were unfamiliar with the industry and the West Coast, Mr Birchfield claimed. But Mr Lew says the WCRC employs seven full-time compliance or consents officers, and stands by the integrity of its resource consent process, and the professionalism of its staff and contracted consultants. "The most recent quarterly report to Council presented yesterday shows all 27 resource consents issued during that quarter were processed within the statutory timeframe permitted.' The council employed consultancies at times to help with resource consent work, especially when there was an increased workload or reduced in-house capacity, Mr Lew said. That was the case at the moment, with several notified applications on the books, including the Mananui Mineral Sands Mining consent. "When consents officers are managing multiple large-scale applications progressing to hearings, they require extensive assessment and often occupy most of an officer's workload.' Mr Birchfield claimed this week that Wellington consultants had asked questions, that a competent local consents officer would not have asked. Mr Lew said the consulting firms all had to follow the same statutory process under the RMA, and a consent authority had to have enough information to make a fully informed decision. 'Consultants are expected, as are council consents officers, to seek further information where needed, including site visits, local mapping, or input from regional staff to ensure the specific context of an application is understood.' The costs fell on the person applying for the consent, whether the work was done in house or by a consultant. The council had an open-door for applicants and the agents submitting applications on their behalf, and was happy to speak to them directly, Mr Lew said. 'This includes offering pre-application meetings, phone or email guidance, and support during the processing stage wherever possible.' Cr Birchfield also claimed that council compliance staff had been taking police escorts on site visits recently and turning up without notice after heavy rain had muddied creeks. But Mr Lew said council staff had not taken police escorts to inspect mines. "Under the RMA, staff members have the right to go on site with or without prior notice and the council is responsible for the health and safety of its staff on site visits.' It was a requirement of resource consents for mining operations to control water during rainfall events, he said. -LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Scoop
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Iwi Defends Role In West Coast Consent Process
Article – Lois Williams – Local Democracy Reporter The Whakahono a Rohe agreement is due for a review as Resource Management Act changes loom, the West Coast Regional Council said. An historic deal to work together for the good of the West Coast is under review by iwi and the West Coast Regional Council. The Whakahono a Rohe agreement – sealed at Arahura marae in 2020 – was recognised with an excellence award by the NZ Planning Institute as the first of its kind under the Resource Management Act (RMA). Five years on, the agreement is due for reappraisal – especially with RMA changes on the horizon, the council says. The protocol document, Paetae Kotahitanga ki Te Tai Poutini, was signed by the council's chair at the time, Allan Birchfield and by Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Waewae and Makaawhio rūnanga leaders. And while a staff report says the review will be a 'light touch' one because there's no need for substantive changes, Cr Birchfield is pushing for change. At the time of the signing, the former chair – and Greymouth goldminer – praised the rūnanga for having positive attitudes to economic development. But at Tuesday's council meeting Birchfield challenged Ngāti Waewae representative Francois Tumahai over the iwi's role in resource consenting. Councillors were told they would be able to work through some recommended changes at a workshop later this month. 'Will we still require iwi sign-off on all our consents?' Cr Birchfield asked. Mr Tumahai responded: 'I should hope so.' That was the intention, council staff confirmed. 'So any resource consent requires an iwi sign-off? That wasn't really my understanding when I signed that agreement,' Cr Birchfield said. Mr Tumahai said the rūnanga were required to give feedback on consent conditions. 'The decision is still made by the consents team on council. We don't make a decision on it,' he said Cr Birchfield said his understanding was that iwi signoff was about consultation, not a statutory requirement. Mr Tumahai said it was a statutory requirement. 'But the process is we engage together around the issues and agree on conditions … that's always been the case. We don't have the ability to stop it.' Cr Birchfield said he had been told by the council's chief executive Darryl Lew that if iwi did not sign off on a resource consent, it had to go to a hearing. Mr Lew said in some circumstances, the matter would proceed to a hearing. 'But that comes from the RMA, it doesn't come from the Mana Whakahono agreement.' Overall, the document was fit for purpose and just needed minor amendments, Mr Lew said. After the agreement was signed the council had gone through a challenging time, with 'a bit of unstable leadership,' and management change, Mr Lew said. 'Which really meant that the work required upon signing to work out efficient and effective ways of implementing the agreement with Poutini Ngāi Tahu did not happen.' That was the key piece of work the council and iwi now needed to do, Mr Lew said. However, Cr Birchfield said there is no statutory sign-off for iwi in the RMA – 'the only one who got a statutory sign-off was Fish and Game'. Mr Tumahai said that was incorrect. 'At the end of day Allan, what we're trying to achieve is to get to a point where that sort of shit doesn't happen .. otherwise everything will be going through court and we'll go nowhere fast.' Iwi were advocates in the process and did all they could to get consents across the line, he said. 'However, we need to make sure compliance is right. That's what it's about. If you decide to challenge it then I'm going to challenge it. And we'll go backwards,' the Ngati Waewae chair warned. Cr Birchfield said he wanted consents for West Coast people to be processed and granted in a timely manner at a minimum cost. 'We'll have it out in the workshop on the 20th May,' he said. Mr Birchfield has been at odds with the council over a number of issues, including staff numbers and resource consenting since he was deposed as chair in 2023 and censured for allegedly leaking confidential information to news media. -LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Scoop
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Iwi Defends Role In West Coast Consent Process
An historic deal to work together for the good of the West Coast is under review by iwi and the West Coast Regional Council. The Whakahono a Rohe agreement - sealed at Arahura marae in 2020 - was recognised with an excellence award by the NZ Planning Institute as the first of its kind under the Resource Management Act (RMA). Five years on, the agreement is due for reappraisal - especially with RMA changes on the horizon, the council says. The protocol document, Paetae Kotahitanga ki Te Tai Poutini, was signed by the council's chair at the time, Allan Birchfield and by Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Waewae and Makaawhio rūnanga leaders. And while a staff report says the review will be a 'light touch' one because there's no need for substantive changes, Cr Birchfield is pushing for change. At the time of the signing, the former chair – and Greymouth goldminer - praised the rūnanga for having positive attitudes to economic development. But at Tuesday's council meeting Birchfield challenged Ngāti Waewae representative Francois Tumahai over the iwi's role in resource consenting. Councillors were told they would be able to work through some recommended changes at a workshop later this month. 'Will we still require iwi sign-off on all our consents?" Cr Birchfield asked. Mr Tumahai responded: 'I should hope so.' That was the intention, council staff confirmed. 'So any resource consent requires an iwi sign-off? That wasn't really my understanding when I signed that agreement,' Cr Birchfield said. Mr Tumahai said the rūnanga were required to give feedback on consent conditions. 'The decision is still made by the consents team on council. We don't make a decision on it,' he said Cr Birchfield said his understanding was that iwi signoff was about consultation, not a statutory requirement. Mr Tumahai said it was a statutory requirement. 'But the process is we engage together around the issues and agree on conditions … that's always been the case. We don't have the ability to stop it.' Cr Birchfield said he had been told by the council's chief executive Darryl Lew that if iwi did not sign off on a resource consent, it had to go to a hearing. Mr Lew said in some circumstances, the matter would proceed to a hearing. 'But that comes from the RMA, it doesn't come from the Mana Whakahono agreement.' Overall, the document was fit for purpose and just needed minor amendments, Mr Lew said. After the agreement was signed the council had gone through a challenging time, with 'a bit of unstable leadership,' and management change, Mr Lew said. 'Which really meant that the work required upon signing to work out efficient and effective ways of implementing the agreement with Poutini Ngāi Tahu did not happen.' That was the key piece of work the council and iwi now needed to do, Mr Lew said. However, Cr Birchfield said there is no statutory sign-off for iwi in the RMA - "the only one who got a statutory sign-off was Fish and Game". Mr Tumahai said that was incorrect. 'At the end of day Allan, what we're trying to achieve is to get to a point where that sort of shit doesn't happen .. otherwise everything will be going through court and we'll go nowhere fast.' Iwi were advocates in the process and did all they could to get consents across the line, he said. 'However, we need to make sure compliance is right. That's what it's about. If you decide to challenge it then I'm going to challenge it. And we'll go backwards,' the Ngati Waewae chair warned. Cr Birchfield said he wanted consents for West Coast people to be processed and granted in a timely manner at a minimum cost. 'We'll have it out in the workshop on the 20th May,' he said. Mr Birchfield has been at odds with the council over a number of issues, including staff numbers and resource consenting since he was deposed as chair in 2023 and censured for allegedly leaking confidential information to news media. -LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
