More than 70 people, ranging from 8 months to 74 years old, are camping on the Denniston Plateau on the West Coast right in the middle of Bathurst Resources’s proposed mine footprint. The group arrived on the plateau on Friday, set up camp and deployed banners and large signs, saying ‘Protect Denniston Plateau’ and ‘Just Transition Off Coal.’

“Denniston Plateau is too important to destroy. It’s over 40 million years old and home to many threatened species including roroa (great spotted kiwi) and nationally endangered giant snails Powelliphanta patrickensis. This resistance to mining the plateau is a beautiful show of people power and Bathurst should seriously reconsider their plans. They will not quietly destroy this beautiful country - we will stop them. This is just the beginning,” said Rosie Cruickshank (20 yo).

“The Fast Track Act could enable companies like Bathurst to ruin precious wild places in pursuit of profit. We’re here to show them, and the government, that people are willing to stand in their way. We’ve seen what happened to Happy Valley and we cannot let that happen here,” said Cora Scott (20 yo).

Bathurst Resources Ltd is the biggest coal operator in New Zealand, with 90% of shareholdings owned by foreign investors. The group are camped in an area of the plateau that was cleared by Bathurst in 2014 before the mining project was mothballed. Their Fast-Track application states that they plan to mine 20 million tonnes of coal over 25 years from the Stockton and Denniston Plateaus. [1] A new consent would allow Bathurst to clear vast areas of sandstone tablelands and native forest, to export coking coal to countries like Japan, India and China.

This Easter marks 21 years since the Save Happy Valley Coalition began their campaign to stop mining in Happy Valley. Frances Mountier, who was a spokesperson for the coalition, says, "Many, many people fought for this landscape, and for an end to new coal mines, twenty years ago. Today's struggles stand on our shoulders, and those of all the organisations who fought for Happy Valley. It is even more essential today that no new coal mines are opened. We are careering into climate catastrophe and we are driven there by fossil capital. This is not in the interests of working people, who will be among the most impacted by climate change. For a liveable climate, we must save the plateau."

Last year, New Zealand taxpayers forked out more money to partially clean up a single Bathurst mine’s acid drainage in the Rapid Creek waterway, located below nearby Bathurst’s Stockton Mine, than the entire coal mining sector brought in through royalties. [2]

“Bathurst don’t care about anything besides the profit they make for their shareholders,” said Scott. “The Fast Track dismantles democracy and enables companies like Bathurst to make big money and leave behind a big mess.”

“The weight of the climate crisis is terrifying. It makes sense that we try to put it out of our minds, but mega corporations exploit that. It's important to keep our eyes and hearts open,” said Scott. “This is the first action of many to make sure this coal mine doesn’t go ahead.”

[1] https://www.fasttrack.govt.nz/projects/buller-plateaux-continuation

[2] https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/12/02/all-of-govts-2024-coal-earnings-spent-treating-damages-at-a-single-mine/

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