He acknowledged some of the projects would be “controversial” and there would be some “unhappiness”, but, he said, they would help turbo-charge the economy.
“We’ve got to get back to an economy where growth is paramount and we do as much as we can to get growth into the arteries of this economy,” he said.
“That hasn’t been the case for a large number of years. Part of that is our planning laws that make it hard to do quarries, hard to do mines, hard to build wind farms.”
Now the projects have been selected, they will be listed in the legislation when it is reported back from the Environment Select Committee this month.
The four Taranaki projects included in the list are the Stratford Park Project, Trans-Tasman Resources proposal for seabed mining off the Taranaki coast, a residential housing project on Mangorei Rd, and the Huirangi Solar Farm.
In the list released on Sunday, the Stratford Park Project is described as being “a project to develop a multi-use complex to host A&P shows, motorsports, and equestrian events. Stratford Park will also provide community and education facilities, parks, and walkways”.
TTR’s proposal for seabed mining off the Taranaki coast will “extract up to 50 million tonnes of seabed material per year from the project area”, while the Huirangi Solar Farm project covers construction and operation of “a solar farm and to connect to and supply electricity to the national grid”.
The final Taranaki project on the list is the Maia Properties – Mangorei Rd Development project which plans to develop 119 allotments for residential housing on Mangorei Rd.
Environmental groups have called Sunday’s announcement a “dark day for nature and democracy” – and are urging that time be given to consider the proposed projects.
Forest and Bird plans to send an open letter to Parliament’s Environment Committee asking that it not report back until it had had the opportunity to receive and consider public submissions on the proposed additions to the bill.
Some projects on the list were developments the group had spent years successfully opposing in court, such as the Ruataniwha dam in Hawke’s Bay and TTR’s proposal for seabed mining off the Taranaki coast.
“Because developments referred to or on the schedule are almost certain to go ahead, it’s absolutely critical that proper scrutiny happens now so that people can understand the ways existing environmental protections are being breached and the harm that will be caused,” Forest and Bird’s advocacy general manager Richard Capie said.
“Communities around New Zealand should be able to have a say on projects that could pollute their swimming holes, destroy the precious bush they love, or drive a native species locally extinct.”
Greenpeace’s Juressa Lee said it was “a shock to hear that amidst the climate and biodiversity crises, this Government is going to forge ahead with 11 new mines using the much-maligned fast-track approvals process”.
“It’s especially concerning to see that the Trans-Tasman Resources Taranaki seabed mining project is on the list after being such an abject failure in the environment court and Supreme Court and attracting such widespread opposition from mana whenua, the environmental movement and the offshore wind industry.”
Ilona Hanne is a Taranaki-based journalist and news director who covers breaking and community news from across the lower North Island. She has worked for NZME since 2011.
