Charges make protesters alter sit-in plan

Three anti-mining protesters have been forced to abandon the occupation of a planned West Coast coalmine to defend criminal charges from another protest last year.

Daniel Rae, Frances Mountier and Raoni Hammer were among about 13 protesters planning to "indefinitely" occupy the remote Happy Valley site, about 20km northeast of Westport, which is earmarked for coal mining by state-owned Solid Energy.

"The protest was held to highlight how unacceptable Solid Energy's planned mine in the pristine Happy Valley is," Ms Mountier said.

"The coal extracted from the Cypress mine would release 12 million tonnes of climate-changing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere."

Mr Rae and Ms Mountier are due to appear in the Christchurch District Court today to face charges of trespass and interfering with a railway track from a blockade of Solid Energy's coal train route from the West Coast to the Christchurch port of Lyttelton in August last year.

Ms Hammer will face a trespass charge on Monday.

Four trains were delayed for five hours by the actions of protesters on the railway line near the Heathcote-Lyttelton tunnel in Christchurch.

Solid Energy has overcome opposition and High Court appeals from various organisations to get consent for the Cypress mine.

It says it will put in place programmes to deal with the effects of the mining on the land, water and wildlife.

Spokeswoman Vicki Blyth said the research and studies done into the mine's operation were "unprecedented in the history of the company".

"More than seven years work has been invested in the preparation of the background information and the [mine] application.

"Treatment of mine water will ensure that there are no adverse effects on downstream water quality."


The cypress mine

* Solid Energy plans to mine 5 million tonnes of coal over 10 years, from two opencast pits covering 105ha in Happy Valley, about 20km northeast of Westport.

* Protesters from the "Save Happy Valley" movement have occupied the site, claiming the mine will damage the environment and destroy the habitat of wildlife such as the great spotted kiwi and land snail.

* Solid Energy says it will introduce predator control programmes to help protect wildlife and has planned for several years how to minimise the impacts of the mining.