McCallum Bros Ltd. has lodged an appeal to the Environment Court today following Auckland Council’s decision to decline the company’s resource consent application for offshore sand extraction at Pakiri.

Callum McCallum, Managing Director of McCallum Bros says it was a complex case for the Auckland Council commissioners with a lot of information broken down over a protracted timeframe due to COVID-19 delays. He believes the decision is better suited for the Environment Court, where experts can be called upon to closely analyse and cross reference the evidence.

“At McCallum Bros we consider it our fundamental responsibility to extract the sand at Pakiri in a sustainable way. We have an extensive amount of research that indicates our extraction methods are sustainable and have minimal impact on the local environment.

If not Pakiri, then where?

McCallum adds that Pakiri sand is a nationally significant natural resource and the Council’s decision paid insufficient attention to the fact that if Pakiri extraction is halted, the few other sources of consented sand available will come with higher environmental and economic consequences.

“Without this sand, the construction market could be hit with a major supply shock, seriously impacting housing, transport and other infrastructure developments. Sustainable extraction at Pakiri is the best solution not only because of the quality of the sand, but also due to its ability to be delivered into the centre of Auckland in bulk by shipping. Up to half of the city’s construction sand requirements come from Pakiri.

“The sand must come from somewhere. There is a shortage of available consented sources of sand to replace Pakiri and our research shows these locations wouldn’t be able to keep up with the significant volumes required. Furthermore, if operations moved to the next closest and most significant resource located in Helensville, then there would be many thousands of additional truck and trailer trips on our already congested roading system and thousands of additional tons of CO2 would be released into the atmosphere from increased transportation. At a time when New Zealand is under pressure to reduce carbon emissions to protect our environment, this does not make sense,” says McCallum.

Committed to sustainability

“McCallum Bros has a history spanning more than 150 years on the Hauraki Gulf. We’re a family-owned Kiwi business that has been extracting sand sustainably from Pakiri for more than 75-years, since the first consent was granted in the 1940s,” says McCallum. On top of sand extraction our operations include shipping, aquaculture, farming, transport and accommodation facilities, all spread on or around the Hauraki Gulf. We agree the Gulf is a special place and continue to seek to contribute to its sustainable use.

“I understand many Kiwis naturally have questions about sand extraction. Anything to do with New Zealand’s natural resources should be carefully considered. This is exactly why we want to progress the case to the Environment Court where experts can analyse all the evidence, including our research that indicates our sand extraction at Pakiri is sustainable and has minimal impact on the local environment.”

McCallum Bros. Ltd lodged the appeal today. At this point there is no indication of a date when the Environment Court will review the case.

For further information, photos and video footage go to https://thenittygritty.co.nz/

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Jack Wheeler – Pead

Jack.wheeler@pead.co.nz

021 0233 5803

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