Fast-track applications shouldn’t commit New Zealand to decades of environmental degradation on unique conservation land, says Forest & Bird.
Bathurst Resources has lodged its application to dig up 20 million tonnes of coal from the Denniston Plateau.
Scott Burnett, Forest & Bird’s Denniston campaign lead, says the application marks a critical moment for New Zealand.
“The Denniston Plateau is a national treasure, with extraordinary geology, unique ecosystems, and rare species. Committing to a quarter of a century of climate-damaging coal extraction, a hundred years of acid mine drainage, and permanent destruction of ecosystems – these are not decisions that should be rushed without public consultation, due process, or strong environmental rules.
“This proposal is extraordinary in its scale and complexity and is not something that should be fast-tracked. It deserves the highest level of scrutiny.
“The Fast-track Approvals Act is fundamentally weighted towards development outcomes and allows projects to override environmental protections and safeguards contained in other legislation.”
The Fast-track application would cover 3,000 ha – an area seven times the size of Auckland’s CBD, including on public conservation land, and in areas with irreplaceable and delicate geology.
“This area is underlain by a sandstone shield topped by thin, waterlogged soils that have taken millennia to form. There is nowhere else in New Zealand like it,” says Mr Burnett.
“If this sandstone pavement is dynamited and excavated to reach coal seams, the ecosystems cannot simply be recreated or rehabilitated. Once the rock is fractured, water drains away and the vegetation communities that return will be different to what is there now.
“This unique landscape is home to specialised ecological communities. The critically endangered Avatar moth is just one example of the extraordinary biodiversity risk. Denniston is a lizard hotspot, home to roroa great spotted kiwi, and has specialised plant communities.”
Forest & Bird has a long history of advocating for better protection of the Buller Plateau and recently presented a petition to parliament with more than 30,000 people calling for Denniston to be protected as a scientific reserve.
“The response to proposed conservation law changes has shown in no uncertain terms just how much New Zealanders care about public conservation land, and want to see it properly protected,” says Mr Burnett.
While Forest & Bird expects to be invited to comment on the Fast-track application and is preparing expert evidence, the organisation stresses that expert feedback cannot replace public participation and appropriate decision-making timeframes.
“A proposal with such significant and irreversible environmental consequences deserves meaningful public participation,” says Mr Burnett.
“The Denniston Plateau belongs to all New Zealanders. Fast-tracking a project of this scale while shutting the public out of the process makes a mockery of democracy.”