Trans-Tasman Resources to appeal EPA’s decision

Trans-Tasman Resources to appeal EPA’s decision

The Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) Board will appeal the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Decision-making Committee’s decision to decline its marine consents for mining iron sands in the South Taranaki Bight.

“We have now studied the decision in detail with the assistance of our advisors and experts, and are confident that there are strong grounds for a successful appeal,” said TTR’s Chief Executive, Tim Crossley. “Because this will now be dealt with through a court process, TTR will not be commenting further and we are not yet in a position to disclose the basis of our appeal as these will be sent to the EPA and submitters in the first instance before being released by the EPA.”

An appeal is required to be submitted within 15 working days from the EPA’s decision date, this means the last day an appeal can be accepted is 9 July.

Although once TTR has lodged its appeal it is not in control of the timing of when the appeal would be heard by the courts, it is reasonable to expect that a court would deal with the matter within six months.

TTR’s objective is to develop an iron sands extraction project which achieves substantial economic development while protecting the environment.

The project has significant economic benefits creating 250 direct jobs, 170 indirect and will grow the GDP in the Taranaki regional economy by 3% or $240 million year and will grow New Zealand GDP by $302 million per year. The project will earn New Zealand $50 million per year in tax and royalties.

The company successfully applied for a mining consent earlier this year.

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