Legal error means Solid Energy may access Pike River
A SURPRISE legal error may give Solid Energy access to the Pike River mine but its contractors will have to drive over 29 white crosses to get there.
Some family members and supporters of the 29 men killed at Pike River in 2010 have blocked the Pike River mine access road since November 12 after a landowner gifted them a privatelyowned section of the road.
The protesters want to stop mine owners Solid Energy permanently sealing it with concrete before the drift – a tunnel leading into the mine – is explored.
However, yesterday it emerged that a 1992 agreement between Pike River Coal and the landowner over ownership of the access road was never registered on the title.
Protest leader Bernie Monk said the families’ lawyers were considering their legal position. Meanwhile, the gate and the protesters would remain.
‘‘We won’t be moving. If we have to leave the gate open we will. But they’ll have to drive across 29 crosses we’ve got on the road.
‘‘We are not letting them seal off a crime site.’’
Solid Energy had been given permission for staff and vehicles to monitor the site but larger vehicles and equipment turned away.
Monk added that West Coast contractors were standing by the families. ‘‘The damage has been done. People will not go in.’’ Speaking on Friday, Anna Osborne, whose husband was killed in the mine, said the protest had only ever been a temporary fix.
The protest had successfully prevented Solid Energy from sealing the mine so far.
‘‘They were a week away from sealing it permanently and a month later it is still not done. We have gained support from all the opposition political parties and the public.’’
Osborne also believed Solid Energy would have trouble completing the work even with access as some contractors and suppliers had refused to seal the mine until the standoff with families was resolved.
She said it was humbling to see so many people supporting the protest.
‘‘It’s not just a Pike River thing it’s for everybody who has had an injustice done to them to stand up and make a difference. I’m hoping what we are doing will give others courage to stand up and use their voices.
We won’t be moving. If we have to leave the gate open we will. But they’ll have to drive across 29 crosses.’ BERNIE MONK