New Zealand conservation estate under threat from Australian coal company

Open-cast mining on public conservation land is not what the public of New Zealand wants, says West Coast Environment Network spokesperson Karen Mayhew.

Members of West Coast Environment Network will speak in Westport tomorrow, at the resource consent hearing for a new open-cast coal mine at Denniston. Australian company Bathurst Resources wants to destroy 200 ha of a nationally-significant ecosystem, located entirely on public conservation land.

“When the Government backed down on Schedule 4, Gerry Brownlee declared open slather on the rest of the conservation estate. But that wasn't what New Zealanders were saying – people don't want vast tracts of rare ecosystems dug up for coal.”

West Coast Environment Network has obtained technical reports from the Department of Conservation, released under the Official Information Act, stating that the mine would create industrial enclaves within a large area of public conservation land, destroy and fragment intact vegetation associations, and perpetuate the decline of rare and endangered species. The reports also confirm that restoration of this nationally signficant ecosystem back to its original state would be impossible.

But DOC is not attending the hearing, despite the proposed coal mine and associated facilities being entirely on public conservation land. “When you read the reports it's clear this mine shouldn't go ahead and that DOC's position is based more on politics than science.”

“Once we lose kiwi habitat, red tussock wetland, and this 'originally rare' ecosystem – we can never get it back,” says Ms Mayhew. And our great grandchildren will be dealing with the mess this company leaves behind, from acid mine drainage, weed infestation and habitat loss, through to rising sea levels from climate change.”

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