November 9 2021
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Greenpeace joins sand mining fight u by Andy Bryenton
Home-grown community groups Friends of Pakiri and Save Our Sands have been joined by environmentalist organisation Greenpeace in their opposition to sand mining operations receiving a new resource consent.
Water reforms under attack
The government proposed Three Waters reforms is a case of “taking something by force — a rotten apple …
P3
Future of Kai Iwi camping debated
Several options, including a private lease arrangement, have been discussed in a report to the KDC …
P5
Power dividend a festive windfall
Northpower electricity consumers will each receive their share of $11.7 million thanks to a healthy dividend …
P7
Fresh from a successful campaign to stop seabed mining off the Taranaki coast, the eco-activists are not mincing words regarding the opposition to sand mining off Mangawhai’s shores. “Any form of sea mining devastates seabed ecosystems and disrupts food supplies to our wildlife,” says Seabed Mining Campaigner for Greenpeace Aotearoa James Hita. “This is a perfect example of why we cannot leave the safety of the oceans up to the systems that are currently in place. The Mangawhai to Pakiri coastline is a scientifically recognised closed embayment area, meaning any sand that is removed by mining can only be replaced by sand being taken from adjacent coastal beaches.” Mining company McCallum Brothers has now registered with Auckland Council, which administers resource management in east coast waters, for three new sand mining resource consents. If granted, these would allow them to take more than 9 million cubic metres of sand, starting at a depth of five metres out to 30 metres depth. The sand is for use in the construction industry, which needs concrete to keep pace with population growth. An alternative source within the Kaipara Harbour has been discussed. Sand mining in the south of the harbour continues under the auspices of the Atlas company, with great success and minimal impact. North harbour-based sand resources remain underutilised after
p Protestors line the foreshore in opposition to sand mining which, say environmentalists, has decimated the shoreline of Mangawhai and Te Arai, eroding the once tall dunes and threatening wildlife
the scrapping of a Dargaville-based sand barge nearly a decade ago. “Sand mining has already had a devastating impact on the Mangawhai to Pakiri beaches, damaging seabed ecosystems, disrupting seabird feeding and nesting habitats, and causing irreversible coastal erosion,” says Save Our Sands spokesperson Ken Rayward. “The threat of sand mining is present from Mangawhai to Pakiri beaches and includes threatening the nesting and feeding habitats for the NZ fairy tern, which is critically endangered.” Greenpeace members will bring the full might of a long-established protest apparatus to bear on this issue, drawing
on a history of environmental activism which stretches back to 1970. In the past, the organisation has utilised means as diverse as legal action, direct non-violent protest, blockading and occupation of infrastructure and machinery to score victories against whaling, waste dumping, deforestation and nuclear arms proliferation. While Greenpeace Aotearoa is heading this initiative, they do so under the auspices and support of Greenpeace International. It is an organisation with strong ties to the Kaipara. The monument to its flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, instrumental in the anti-nuclear protests of the 1980s, stands proud above the town of Dargaville. ¢
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