Latest news with #Fast-trackApprovalsAct2024
Scoop
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Fast-Track Fury: Councillor Urges United Front Against Taranaki Seabed Mining
A Whanganui councillor is condemning a decision to move a mining company's South Taranaki seabed application into the next stage of the fast-track approvals process. First-term councillor Charlotte Melser is urging affected councils and iwi to unite in opposition to the proposal by Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) to mine 50 million tonnes of iron sand per year for 35 years over 66km2 of the South Taranaki Bight. 'At what point is enough enough?' Melser said, speaking to Local Democracy Reporting. 'Despite significant opposition from all coastal communities, multiple declined consents and massive gaps in the application in terms of environmental mitigation, the Government has rolled out the red carpet to the back door through the fast-track process and brought this application back from the dead.' The process was established by the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 to streamline infrastructure and development projects deemed to have significant regional or national benefits. TTR's application passed the first hurdle last week when the Environmental Protection Authority marked it as complete. In the next step, the authority has 10 days to check for any competing applications and existing consents before the application moves to a panel convener to appoint an expert panel and set a timeframe for it to make a decision. If no timeframe is set, the panel must make a decision within 30 working days of the deadline for receiving comments from invited parties. On Tuesday morning, Melser delivered a petition against the seabed mining application to Whanganui District Council and planned to present the same petition – signed by more than 3000 people – to New Plymouth District Council's strategy and operations committee in the afternoon. She says local councils could be the only bodies invited to make submissions to the expert panel. 'In the past, lots of individuals have been able to give evidence in the hearings but that's not possible under fast-track. Only invited parties can make submissions. 'What I'm angling for is a united voice from all of the affected district councils and regional councils.' Melser said the fast-track process cuts out the voices of individuals such as divers and recreational users who know the marine area best. 'So it's up to councils and iwi and affected parties to speak for their communities and make strong submissions to the EPA. 'At this stage, it's really important for individuals to contact their elected members, their iwi representatives and their MPs to show sustained opposition.' The petition from Concerned Communities of Taranaki and Manawatu Against Seabed Mining calls on all impacted councils to seek independent advice and review of economic and environmental assessments to ensure all relevant information is provided to the decision-making panel. 'When weighing up the benefits of any project of any development, you need to consider all of the costs including social and environmental," Melser said. 'It's important to ask ourselves what is our bottom line, what are we willing to lose? 'When you look at all the evidence, that coastal marine area is just thriving with abundance and it's a taonga that is worth preserving.' Concerned Communities said in its petition that this type of seabed mining had not been carried out anywhere else in the world and was 'experimental'. The proposal to return 45 million tonnes per year of processed sand to the seabed would create sediment plumes that could significantly impact rich but delicate ecosystems and precious marine life, the petition said. Trans-Tasman Resources executive chairman Alan Eggers said he was pleased the application is moving forward in the fast-track process. 'We believe we have proposed a set of operating conditions and management plans to generate much-needed growth, create high-paying jobs and minimise any environmental impacts in the STB [South Taranaki Bight],' he said in a statement. In a recent Local Democracy Reporting article, Eggers said de-ored sands will be returned immediately to the seafloor in a controlled process to minimise suspended sediment in the water. An economic impact assessment by New Zealand Institute of Economic Research said the project would generate $850 million in annual export earnings and more than 1350 jobs, including 300 in Taranaki and Whanganui. 'Those numbers are overinflated,' Melser said. 'There are a number of gaps in their report.' She told her council that Whanganui would see none of the economic benefit. 'But we will see all of the environmental impact because of the travel of sediment plume.' In December, the Whanganui council unanimously backed a motion from Melser to formally oppose the seabed mining application. Whanganui mayor Andrew Tripe agreed last week to have the petition added to the council meeting agenda as a late item. Usually, petitions have to be received five working days in advance of the meeting but Tripe used mayoral discretion to waive the rule. The council agreed to receive the petition, with all votes in favour. Melser abstained as she presented the petition. TTR's application is expected to be made public on the Government's fast-track website next month.
Otago Daily Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Contact makes little headway on appeal
More than two months after they were turned down from building a large wind farm at Slopedown, any progress Contact Energy have made in moving the project back on the agenda and getting it built appears to be glacial. The power giant was turned down by a panel set up under Covid-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020 and run by the Environment Protection Authority. The 55-turbine wind farm, on a remote but prominent range of hills near Wyndham, was expected to create up to 240 jobs during construction, and power 150,000 homes when operational. Contact was "gutted" with the decision which was released in the middle of March and immediately said it would appeal. It said it had spent $20 million in developing the project and would be prepared to spend more to get the project approved. The project was turned down because of concerns over the project's adverse effects on indigenous plants and animals — including the critically endangered New Zealand long-tailed bat. The panel questioned whether the impact could be "properly mitigated" during and after the project. Under the Act, the only way to appeal was on points of law. Contact said last week it had filed an appeal to the High Court in April but no date had been set for a hearing. When the proposal was turned down, the power company said the wind farm was a good project for the district and for New Zealand. Contact made the decision to re-apply for consent under the updated Fast-track Approvals Act 2024. It said last week its application was still being assessed. Contact had been aggressive in wanting to build the wind farm, saying it was one of many renewable projects which the country needed as it strived to help reach the aspirational target set by the Government of 100% renewable electricity by 2030. The Electricity Authority in a memo last week said hydro storage was likely to remain low, which will push wholesale spot prices up. However, fuel supply and generation capacity will be sufficient to meet national demand this winter. Transpower, the national grid operator warned last week there was a higher risk of electricity outages starting in winter 2026. The national grid operator's draft security of supply assessment predicted an elevated risk of shortages will arrive four years earlier than thought as recently as a year ago. It found solar, wind and battery storage is not coming online fast enough to make up for dwindling supplies in the country's gas fields. The assessment found, if every electricity generation project in the pipeline was built, supply would be much more reliable, but Transpower said there was a risk of some proposed solar, wind and battery projects falling over.
NZ Herald
20-05-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Fast-track fury: Councillor urges united front against Taranaki seabed mining
The process was established by the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 to streamline infrastructure and development projects deemed to have significant regional or national benefits. TTR's application passed the first hurdle last week when the Environmental Protection Authority marked it as complete. In the next step, the authority has 10 days to check for any competing applications and existing consents before the application moves to a panel convener to appoint an expert panel and set a timeframe for it to make a decision. If no timeframe is set, the panel must make a decision within 30 working days of the deadline for receiving comments from invited parties. On Tuesday morning, Melser delivered a petition against the seabed mining application to Whanganui District Council and planned to present the same petition – signed by more than 3000 people – to New Plymouth District Council's strategy and operations committee in the afternoon. She said local councils could be the only bodies invited to make submissions to the expert panel. 'In the past, lots of individuals have been able to give evidence in the hearings but that's not possible under fast-track. Only invited parties can make submissions. 'What I'm angling for is a united voice from all of the affected district councils and regional councils.' Melser said the fast-track process cut out the voices of individuals such as divers and recreational users who knew the marine area best. 'So it's up to councils and iwi and affected parties to speak for their communities and make strong submissions to the EPA. 'At this stage, it's really important for individuals to contact their elected members, their iwi representatives and their MPs to show sustained opposition.' The petition from Concerned Communities of Taranaki and Manawatu Against Seabed Mining calls on all impacted councils to seek independent advice and review of economic and environmental assessments to ensure all relevant information is provided to the decision-making panel. 'When weighing up the benefits of any project of any development, you need to consider all of the costs, including social and environmental,' Melser said. 'It's important to ask ourselves what is our bottom line, what are we willing to lose? Advertise with NZME. 'When you look at all the evidence, that coastal marine area is just thriving with abundance and it's a taonga that is worth preserving.' Concerned Communities said in its petition that this type of seabed mining had not been carried out anywhere else in the world and was 'experimental'. The proposal to return 45 million tonnes a year of processed sand to the seabed would create sediment plumes that could significantly impact rich but delicate ecosystems and precious marine life, the petition said. Trans-Tasman Resources executive chairman Alan Eggers said he was pleased the application was moving forward in the fast-track process. 'We believe we have proposed a set of operating conditions and management plans to generate much-needed growth, create high-paying jobs and minimise any environmental impacts in the STB [South Taranaki Bight],' he said in a statement. Eggers recently told Local Democracy Reporting de-ored sands would be returned immediately to the seafloor in a controlled process to minimise suspended sediment in the water. An economic impact assessment by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research said the project would generate $850 million in annual export earnings and more than 1350 jobs, including 300 in Taranaki and Whanganui. 'Those numbers are overinflated,' Melser said. 'There are a number of gaps in their report.' She told her council that Whanganui would see none of the economic benefit. 'But we will see all of the environmental impact because of the travel of sediment plume.' In December, the Whanganui council unanimously backed a motion from Melser to formally oppose the seabed mining application. Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe agreed last week to have the petition added to the council meeting agenda as a late item. Usually, petitions have to be received five working days in advance of the meeting, but Tripe used mayoral discretion to waive the rule. The council agreed to receive the petition, with 12 votes in favour and one abstention. TTR's application is expected to be made public on the Government's fast-track website next month.
Otago Daily Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Planned film studio could have ‘massive flow-on effect'
Kyle Murdoch. Photo: supplied A proposed $200 million Queenstown film studio flagged for fast-track approval could have a "massive flow-on effect" for the region and make it easier to attract projects to the South, an industry leader says. Winton Land Ltd announced this week its plans to build and operate a new screen production facility for film and television, near Queenstown. Minister for Infrastructure Chris Bishop referred the project under the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 on Tuesday, meaning it could now lodge substantive applications with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to be considered by expert panels. In an announcement to the New Zealand Stock Exchange, Winton chief executive Chris Meehan said the $200m Ayrburn Screen Hub project would be great for jobs in Queenstown and economic growth in New Zealand. "The project will increase New Zealand's ability to attract high-quality films from around the world, and also means that local film-makers will have the best-quality facilities available to them at one of the world's most unique and sought-after locations." The hub would serve as an all-inclusive film studio that enabled users to work and stay on site throughout filming, production and post-production. It would include studio buildings, workrooms, office spaces, dressing rooms, a screening room and meeting space, with 185-room accommodation for film workers, which could double as visitor accommodation when no films were in production, Mr Meehan said. Film Otago Southland chairman Kyle Murdoch said having more studios in the region was a "really positive thing for the industry". A lot of overseas producers wanted to work in Queenstown, Central Otago and Dunedin, but a lack of facilities meant production crews tended to head to Auckland or Wellington once filming was complete. The hub would be "far superior to anything we've got in the region" and it would go "a long way" towards growing the industry and making it more sustainable year-round. "It's not all about the actors and directors. "A big film or TV series uses a lot of different skill sets and hires a lot of different people who occasionally work in film and TV in this region, but also have other jobs as well. "So I think you'll probably find there'll be quite a massive flow-on effect, for sure." The project is located at a roughly 26.25 hectare site between Arrowtown and Lake Hayes. A decision notice said the project included works to improve the water quality of Lake Hayes through sediment control and riparian planting of an on-site stream flowing into the lake. Mr Bishop was satisfied the project would have "significant regional or national benefits" in terms of the economic impact to Otago as well as other economic benefits nationally if it attracted new productions that would have otherwise not occurred in New Zealand, the decision stated. It would also "address significant environmental issues by supporting water-quality enhancement of Waiwhakaata/Lake Hayes, which has regionally significant benefits due to the importance of this highly valued lake to the community, mana whenua, regional and district councils and visitors". Mr Meehan estimated the hub could inject almost $280m into the local economy during its construction and support 640 full-time jobs across the wider Otago region. The hub would underpin about 370 local jobs every year and have flow-on benefits for the wider community and labour market, he said.
Otago Daily Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
$200m film hub plan for Queenstown
The backer of a proposed $200 million Queenstown film studio earmarked for fast-track approval says it will create hundreds of jobs and boost the local economy. The Ayrburn Screen Hub proposed by developer Chris Meehan envisages a film and television production facility on about 26ha of land between Arrowtown and Lake Hayes. Mt Meehan said the application by his company Winton Land was now one step closer after being accepted for government's the fast-track approval process. 'This will be great for Queenstown jobs and it's great for New Zealand's economic growth," he said in a statement. 'The project will increase New Zealand's ability to attract high quality films from around the world, and also means that local film makers will have the best quality facilities available to them at one of the world's most unique and sought after locations.' The hub would be an all-inclusive film studio enabling users to work and stay onsite through filming, production and post-production. It would include studio buildings, office space, dressing rooms, a screening room and meeting space, with 185 room accommodation foe workers which could double as visitor accommodation during quiet periods. During its construction, the project would inject an estimated $280 million into the local economy and support 640 full-time jobs across the wider Otago region, he said. The hub would "underpin approximately 370 jobs locally every year, with flow-on benefits into the wider community and labour market,' he said. 'Diversifying Queenstown's economy is key to its sustainable growth. The screen hub is among the first two non-listed projects to go into the new fast-track approval process. It was referred under the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 by Minister for Infrastructure Chris Bishop. The Act contains two pathways for projects to enter the government's new one-stop-shop approvals process. "The first pathway, Schedule 2 of the Act — commonly referred to as the fast-track list — contains 149 projects which can apply directly to the Environmental Protection Authority to have an expert panel assess the project, decide whether to consent it, and apply any relevant conditions. "The first three expert panels are already under way and more are expected soon." The second pathway was for project owners, such as the Ayrburn project, to apply to the minister for infrastructure for referral into the fast-track process, Mr Bishop said. "For this pathway, the minister for infrastructure must consult the minister for the environment and any other ministers with relevant portfolios, along with iwi and the relevant local authority, before deciding whether to refer the project." Yesterday, Mr Bishop referred the Ayrburn Screen Hub application into the fast-track process. The other project was Ashbourne, in Matamata, Waikato. "This application is for a residential and retirement development project of 530 new homes and 250 retirement units, along with associated commercial development and infrastructure, and two solar farms with the capacity to power 8000 homes. "These two projects may now move to the next stage in the fast-track process by lodging substantive applications with the EPA, to be considered by expert panels."
