Denniston mine closed to tourists
A key West Coast tourist attraction has closed down amid claims it dit not meet new health-and-safety regulations.
The Denniston Experience operates a train ride 200 metres into Banbury mine, one of the historic mines at Denniston, near Westport.
The area is administered by the Department of Conservation (DOC), but the interactive tours are run by private operators Jacqueline and Nigel Slonker.
DOC Buller area manager Bob Dickson said the tourist mine had become an ‘‘unintentional casualty’’ of new regulations brought in following the Pike River disaster which killed 29 miners in 2010.
The Banbury mine tours had been operating safety for six years, and aimed to take tourists back to the 1880s by recreating the life and work of a miner on the mountain plateau. Dickson said the new regulations did not differentiate between a producing coal mine and a tourist mine.
‘‘DOC, Development West Coast, Buller District Council and corporate sponsors all invested around $3.5 million to bring it up to a high safety standard. A considerable amount has been spent on safety equipment, full roof support and a second egress. It is considered gas-free,’’ he said.
WorkSafe’s high hazard unit told the operators an adequately qualified and experienced mine manager had to be on site at all times,’’ Dickson said.
He said Nigel Slonker was a qualified mine manager who previously worked for WorkSafe but was not always able to be on site. It would be cost-prohibitive to employ another manager, he said.
The mine was a ‘‘fantastic’’ asset for the West Coast, attracting about 3000 visitors a year, and its closure was a ‘‘bitter blow’’ to the region’s tourism industry.
‘‘We can’t afford to lose it. It’s absolutely crucial we get that mine open again.’’
Slonker said they did not have the finances to meet WorkSafe’s demands so he had given up his DOC concession to run the tourist mine.
‘‘There are not too many mine managers left in New Zealand but these guys can demand $1000 a day. We simply can’t do it.
‘‘We have no option but to close unless WorkSafe changes the regulations for tourist mines.’’
Four staff would lose their jobs, unless DOC could find a new operator who could meet the requirements, he said.
WorkSafe chief inspector Mark Pizey said there must be a qualified and experienced manager onsite to manage the mine.
‘‘It is absolutely [Slonker’s] choice as to who that person is and if he has decided that his proposed solution does not meet the terms of the mining regulations, the decision to close the attraction is his alone and he cannot suggest there has been any change to mining compliance issued by this agency,’’ he said.