Port of Tauranga consent hearing to begin
The hearing for a Port of Tauranga resource management consent application to dredge existing shipping channels in
Tauranga Harbour begins in Tauranga on Monday 8 March.
Port of Tauranga has applied for consent to deepen the shipping channels in the port zone by up to 3.3 metres – removing
15 million cubic metres of sediment from Tauranga Harbour.
Environment Bay of Plenty received 91 submissions on the resource consent application – 80 in opposition to the
application and nine in support.
Environment Bay of Plenty has appointed independent commissioners Greg Hill and Vaughan Payne to the hearing panel. The
Minister of Conservation has also appointed Richard Heerdegan as a commissioner to the panel because of the scale and
significance of the application.
Environment Bay of Plenty Consents Manager Aileen Lawrie said the submitters who were opposed to resource consent
application were concerned about the cultural impact of the dredging on kaimoana and cultural practices, water quality,
tidal movements and the coastal process.
Submitters who supported the resource consent application promoted the economic benefits of the Port of Tauranga to the
Bay of Plenty region and the positive impact that deepening the harbour to accommodate much larger ships was likely to
bring, she said.
Environment Bay of Plenty’s Regional Coastal Environment Plan contains a port zone which recognises the Port of Tauranga
as the primary operation in that zone. Port of Tauranga holds a range of resource consents for all aspects of port
operation.
Port of Tauranga Resource Management Consent Hearing
9:30am Monday 8 March to Thursday 11 March
Mount Maunganui Cosmopolitan Club
Miro Street, Mount Maunganui
ENDS