Pākiri mana whenua’s victory may be brief as fast-track approval bill offers miners new chance

Pakiri Beach. Photo / Martin Sykes

The third generation of a whānau trying to stop sand mining at Pākiri Beach north of Auckland is finally celebrating a court win - but fear it may be overturned if the miner applies for fast-track consent.

Te Whānau o Pākiri chairwoman Olivia Haddon says she is now hoping the whānau’s relief at the ruling won’t be shortlived.

The fast-track law has been put forward by the coalition Government and will allow three ministers to overrule local decisions and court rulings to allow developments to go ahead.

The Environment Court has ruled against McCallum Brothers’ appeal of an Auckland Council decision to refuse to allow it to mine sand at Pākiri Beach.

Many companies have dredged at Pākiri since the 1940s, including McCallum Brothers and Kaipara Limited. However, this was the first time McCallum Brothers had applied for consent in offshore mining. The application was for 3 million cubic metres over a period of 30 years but then changed to an application for 2 million cubic metres over 20 years.

Haddon said the court refused the application for many reasons – the impacts of extraction on coastal processes, the impacts on ecology and the effects on the mana whenua of Pākiri.

The dredging battle has been fought over generations and Haddon said the whānau had long had a sense of disbelief and felt their values weren’t being adhered to or understood, but this time they felt heard. She said the whānau were both surprised and relieved at the court decision.

Pakiri Beach. Photo / Martin Sykes

Haddon wanted to acknowledge the communities who had long fought the battle – environmental organisations, local communities, iwi organisations led by Ngāti Wai and Ngāti Manuhiri, the ahi kā of Pākiri and Omaha marae, as all worked together united to oppose the application.

But this victory may be temporary if the fast-track approval bill comes into action.

Earlier this week, Te Ao Māori News spoke with Juressa Lee of Greenpeace about the impacts this would have on the environment and tāngata whenua.

We asked Haddon if she was worried the decision would be overturned under the proposed fast-track approval system. She replied: “We are very concerned about the fast-track bill and what it means for applications. We’re not against having a streamlined approach and a better, more efficient approach to building significant infrastructure for Aotearoa and our communities.”

Opponents have long argued dredging is essential due to Auckland’s growing demand for concrete. However, Haddon said there is no sand supply crisis at present, there are other land and marine sources where the consented capacity hasn’t been reached, and the alternative of manufactured sand is growing.