Augusta Macassey-Pickard is the Coordinator of Coromandel Watchdog, Box 205, Whitianga 3542, www.watchdog.org.nz, 0220291150, watchdogcoordinator@gmail.com, https://www.facebook.com/corowatchdog/

The change of Government in 2017 brought great hope to Coromandel Watchdog, as both Labour and the Greens had publicly committed to support extending Schedule 4, one of the highest protections for Conservation land from mining, to include all of the Coromandel Ecological District, south as far as Mt Te Aroha. This would affect a number of current exploration activities that we have had serious concerns about for some time, such as the Oceana project behind Whangamata in the Parakiwai/Wharekirauponga Valley area – Conservation land that is home to the very special and endangered Archey’s frog. It could potentially see these areas protected from mining with some of the strongest legislative protection.

Government Needs A Prod

Together with Protect Karangahake, a group working to protect a beautiful area from this destructive industry, we have launched an open letter, reminding the Parties of that commitment, as we unfortunately have seen no movement on it yet. To sign please visit (https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/honour-the-commitment-to-protect-coromandel-conservation-land-from-mining-1).

A recent development in the area has been the granting by New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals of an exploration permit two kms off Waihi Beach, and south to Bowentown. This venture is also looking for gold and proposes to drill the sea floor to a 50m depth in pursuit of it. No consents have been applied for as yet, but we are watching this project with concern. It would seem that the parent company of this, CASS Offshore Minerals Ltd, also has another subsidiary in Taranaki.

As excited as we were with the Minister of Conservation’s commitment to no new mines on Conservation land, we have been disappointed by the lack of progress on this. We will naturally be facilitating participation in the recently announced consultation, so contact us if you want to be involved. We have been disappointed to see a flurry of permit granting, and extensions to areas of existing areas since the announcement, and obviously the industry will be lobbying hard.

A Destabilising Industry

It is vital that we support the Government in this move and ensure that there is overwhelming support from the public of Aotearoa! Keep an eye on our Facebook page, and Website for more on that, as well as current maps of permit areas (in and around Whitianga, Hikuai, Pauanui, Opoutere, Kauaeranga, Parakiwai, Karangahake etc). And of course, New Zealand’s biggest (Canadian) mining company, Oceana Gold, has just announced they have applied for consents to mine underneath yet more of Waihi, including people’s homes, businesses and even the huge open pit mine (once they’ve stabilised the wall that collapsed). How stable does that sound!!!