07 March 

The Fast Track Bill has targeted especially protected areas on the Coromandel Peninsula for mining, says Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki,

“ The new Fast Track Approvals Bill will see the environmental protection created in Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act removed from the Coromandel, outraging a community that has stood against mining for more than 40 years” says Catherine Delahunty

“In the 1990s the National Government recognised the importance and biodiversity value of Te Tara o te Ika a Maui ( the Peninsula)creating schedule 4, a class of conservation land identified as not appropriate for mining.
 

“Today we have learned that though many land areas in the Crown Minerals Schedule 4 are to remain protected, those that protect Te Tara o Te Ika are to be open to fast track applications.

This is a shameful move to facilitate damaging development in areas that have been shown time and again to be important to biodiversity and treasured by locals and visitors.

We fought for the open cast ban and 30 years later we will not be standing by to let multinational gold miners tear it apart “

"Has this Government forgotten the 40,0000 strong march down Queen St to defend Schedule 4 ?They may have blocked our rights in court and destroyed protections under Schedule 4 but we owe it to future generations to peacefully resist unnecessary and toxic mining”

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