Napier City Council has rejected a claim by Labour candidate Stuart Nash that it has made a "huge mistake" allowing an oil company to undertake seismic testing near Hawke's Bay Airport.
The council has approved an application by Endeavour Energy to undertake a seismic survey on Landcorp land west of the airport, saying it had no grounds to refuse the application.
Seismic testing, described in the company's consent application as "the first step in the oil and gas exploration process", involves drilling 10-metre-deep bores, letting off explosive charges and recording the resulting seismic activity to gain "subsurface information" of the area's geology.
In its application, Endeavour Energy said cables and "geophones" to record seismic activity would be run over the Ahuriri Estuary, which is managed by the Department of Conservation. The work is expected to take four to six weeks.
The granting of the consent was a concern for Ahuriri artist Ben Pearce, who said he had put house-hunting plans in Westshore on hold until he knew more about it.