Fear mining plan will affect jobs
The new conservation minister is not backing down on plans to prohibit new mining on conservation land after meeting West Coast leaders.
Eugenie Sage on Monday met with Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn, Westland District Mayor Bruce Smith and West Coast Regional Council chairman Andrew Robb.
Kokshoorn spoke to Sage about the Government’s plan to make new mining on Department of Conservation (DOC) land off-limits.
It would have a big impact on the West Coast, where DOC controls about 84 per cent of the land and mining contributed 12.7 per cent of the region’s GDP in 2016.
Kokshoorn said changing the policy for new mineral licences would not only affect miners in the region, but ‘‘downstream’’ businesses such as engineering.
The decline of coal mining was ‘‘painful’’, so the prospect of no new alluvial gold mines would be ‘‘that much tougher on the region’’.
He earlier said gold mining employed about 180 people in Grey District and more throughout the West Coast.
‘‘She said nothing to soften her stance,’’ Kokshoorn said.
He said it was disappointing, but noted the Government had not set the policy yet.
‘‘I stressed the importance of minerals here on the West Coast. I said to her, ‘We understand we are making a transition, especially here in the Grey district from extractive industries to more sustainable industry’,’’ he said.
‘‘It won’t, in the short term, effect alluvial gold miners, but it certainly will when they go to renew licences, so that’s a real worry there because there’s a lot of jobs that rely on alluvial gold here on the West Coast.’’
Sage could not say when the policy would be set.
‘‘I recognise that, particularly on the West Coast, that the sector wants certainty so there is a priority on that, but I can’t give you a time,’’ Sage said.
Current applications would still be determined under current law, she said.
‘‘The policy is for new mines so existing mines and jobs associated with that aren’t affected.’’
West Coast Regional Council chairman Andrew Robb said it was important the council was consulted before a ‘‘no new mining’’ policy was set.
‘‘That’s obviously one minister and all those things have to be tested by the Government and hopefully we’ll be engaged in the process,’’ he said.
The West Coast had three main industries – mining, farming and tourism, he said.
Both Robb and Kokshoorn talked about the region’s reliance on DOC for future growth opportunities, particularly in the tourism sector.
‘‘We’re pleased the new Government is going to put major money into regional development,’’ Kokshoorn said.
‘‘It’s important we identify new industry for the region and make sure it’s got a good business plan behind it.’’