ARC appeals Mangawhai-Pakiri sand extraction ruling

The Auckland Regional Council has lodged a High Court appeal against the Environment Court decision to allow Sea-Tow Limited and McCallum Bros Limited to continue sand extraction from the Mangawhai – Pakiri embayment.

In a reserved decision, released on May 30, the Environment Court granted resource consents to the companies’ to take 76,000cu metres of sand a year for 14 years from part of the nearshore of the Mangawhai-Pakiri embayment.

ARC Coastal Projects Leader Andrew Benson said after reviewing the decision ARC believes that the Environment Court made a mistake in assessing the rate of sand replenishment into the nearshore area where Sea-Tow Ltd and McCallum Bros Ltd were seeking consent to renew their sand extraction activities.

“The Environment Court decided there was more sand coming into the area, where the proposed sand extraction takes place, than was going out,” Mr Benson said. The ARC’s point of appeal rests on the lack of evidence to support that conclusion,” Mr Benson said.

ARC Environmental Management Chair Dianne Glenn said councillors were particularly concerned and disappointed with the decision because the Hauraki Gulf was an area of special protection.

“Mangawhai-Pakiri has significant natural, physical, cultural, amenity and landscape values and is home to two threatened bird species, the New Zealand Fairy Tern, and the New Zealand Dotterel,” Cr Glenn said.

For more information please contact ARC Environmental Management Chair Dianne Glenn on (09) 366 2000 x8555 or 0274284779.

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