West Coast councils plan counter-campaign to champion mining

Bruce Smith

West Coast mayors say they are about to unleash an online video campaign championing mining, after Forest and Bird upped the ante with glossy television commercials.

Conservationists, miners and many West Coasters are waiting for consultation to open on the Labour Government's proposal to ban new mines on conservation land.

Forest and Bird has launched a commercial which is airing on prime-time television, including aerial footage of what appears to be a West Coast goldmine.

"We continue to allow industries like mining to destroy our native forests," chief executive Kevin Hague, who lives in Greymouth, says on camera.

Four months after 5000 people protested quietly at the opening of the new Taramakau Bridge, little further has happened.

The Greymouth Star asked Westland Mayor Bruce Smith how it would step up the message of sustainable mining on the West Coast, in the face of the Forest and Bird campaign.

"That's a really good question. They [Forest and Bird] are a well funded minority group that has its former CEO now as the minister doing the [no new mines] proposal," Mr Smith said.

The Coast could not compete with an expensive television campaign.

However, he had faith in the Coalition Government and believed "common sense will prevail".

"They won't be swayed by flash pants advertising campaigns."

West Coast councils had commissioned professional videos showing the reality of mining on the Coast, and these were now close to release, he said.

- Laura Mills