Iwi annoyed by mining extension

A Taranaki iwi has been outraged the hearing schedule for a proposal to mine iron sand off the South Taranaki coast has been extended.

The Environmental Protection Authority’s decision making committee began its hearing into Trans Tasman Resources application to extract billions of dollars in iron ore off the coast of Patea on February 16 and it was expected to finish on March 20.

However the EPA has extended the deadline until May 31, so the committee could gather further information on the proposal and its effects.

The decision has annoyed the Te Runanga o Ngati Ruanui Trust.

Te Runanga o Ngati Ruanui kaiarataki Debbie NgarewaPacker said there had been a clear one-sided advantage throughout the whole process.

The trust along with the several fisheries organisations, including Talley’s Group Limited and Fisheries Inshore New Zealand, opposed the extension because it unreasonably added cost, time and effort to an application that was already seen as inadequate, Ngarewa-Packer said.

The objections were considered but rejected.

Ngarewa-Packer said while there was room in the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf Act to extend the hearing the trust believed the scales were tipped in the wrong direction.

‘‘Trans Tasman Resources are set up to focus on one thing, while the hundreds who oppose this can only draw on a finite amount time and money. As it stands, TTR have failed to dispel any of the uncertainties brought up during the hearings to date.’’

She questioned why TTR had been given more time to address the numerous gaps.

‘‘If it doesn’t stack up now the project should be rejected outright.’’

The latest decision came in the wake of numerous questionable acts by the EPA, including refusing to hold the hearings in the area that would be affected most, failing to release videos which were part of the previously redacted information and an Environment Court ruling where several hundred pages were wrongly blanked out by the EPA, she said.

Trust chairman Haimona Maruera Jnr said it appeared the authority was doing everything it could to support the project.

‘‘Moving the goal posts to suit one side is shameful and highlights the unfortunate trend of playing games with our community’s future,’’ he said.

‘‘This shambolic and often confusing process means we have lost all faith in the EPA and doubt it can uphold the fairness the authority should stand for.’’

Maruera said the people had fought hard and fairly and yet the burden was again placed on them to exhaust further time, money and effort to protect their rights.

The EPA had previously rejected TTR’s application in 2014 but the company modified its proposal and now described the potential effects on the marine environment as ‘‘very small to negligible’’.

The depth of opposition to the proposal was on display in New Plymouth when the EPA’s hearing began on March 6 and busloads of iwi and hapu members from South Taranaki travelled north and made their position clear, waving banners and wearing clothes branded with ‘‘No seabed mining in Patea’’.

The EPA’s committee has 20 days after May 31 to make its decision whether project can proceed.