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Far North deputy mayor Kelly Stratford and mayor Moko Tepania (right).
photo: NZME via LDR
The Far North District Council has called for parts of the fast-track bill to be scrapped because they fear it would allow mining in prime nature reserves where it is currently prohibited.
These include the region’s maunga (mountains), where the kōiwi (bones) of tangata whenua ancestors are buried.
Far North District Council said the legislation could over-ride the protection of the region’s outstanding natural areas and features set out in the council’s regional plan.
The council’s comments were published in an eight-page Fast Track Approval Bill signed by Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford and Chief Executive Guy Holroyd – one of about 27,000 such bills across the country.
The submission states that given the Far North District Council (FNDC)’s small size and limited resources, the bill’s requirements are likely to hit it harder than its larger counterparts.
Communities often vigorously oppose bans on activities such as mineral extraction in high-quality natural areas, the report says.
“Pursuing a directly contradictory project would undermine this work (due to the fast-track process),” the submission states.
Residents of the Far North have previously campaigned against mining in their area.
Far North Tribal housing like this now-completed affordable home in Kaikohe could be among the projects that could be fast-tracked for approval.
photo: New Zealand ME
Norwegian energy giant Statoil was granted permission in 2013 to conduct seismic oil exploration in a large area of about 85 kilometers off the west coast of the Arctic, but faced years of protests. Three years later, Statoil withdrew the request, saying initial research results were not promising enough.
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop did not comment specifically on the FNDC’s concerns, including the bill’s risks to the Far North’s outstanding natural areas and features, tangata whenua engagement and climate change.
Bishop said the bill was being considered by the parliamentary environment select committee and it would be inappropriate for him to comment.
He said the new legislation was part of the government’s economic reconstruction plan.
“New Zealand has become a hobbled economy. It’s too hard to build projects. The Fast Track Bill is part of the Coalition Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and boost productivity.
“We are making it clear to the world that we are open for business and building a pipeline of major projects across the country because only with a strong economy can we afford the public services that New Zealanders, including Northlanders, need.”
He said the new bill built on an existing fast-track approval process put in place by New Zealand’s previous government.
The Far North Infrastructure Plan is one of the key regional and national projects that can be accelerated.
The then-newly commissioned Matavi Dam near Kaikohe had a long way to go to hold 750,000 cubic metres of water, the equivalent of about 300 Olympic-sized swimming pools. It was the first project in New Zealand to be built under fast-track Covid-19 legislation.
photo: New Zealand ME
In 2020, the 18-hectare Matavi Reservoir Dam – an area equivalent to nearly 26 rugby fields near Kaikohe – became the country’s first post-COVID-19 recovery fast-track project.
FNDC submissions say the bill threatens a range of formal resource management arrangements between FNDC and Tangata Whenua that take into account the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
These activities have been expanded as part of the 2019 Whanaungatanga Kī Taurangi Engagement Agreement, signed by Northland’s four councils through the Northland Mayors’ Forum and Te Kahu o Taonui (Northland Iwi Chairpersons’ Forum), which represents the region’s 11 iwi authorities.
The FNDC said the bill did not provide proper consultation for whānau, hapū and iwi. Its short feedback time for tangata whenua meant hapū in particular were unlikely to be involved.
Parliament called for the bill to include a requirement for all parties involved in fast-tracking projects to consider the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi during their deliberations.
“The Act does not include an RMA requirement for decision makers to comply with the Waitangi Act principles that normally apply to resource consent decisions.”
In May 2023, the Matavi Dam near Kaikohe was officially opened. This was the first project built in New Zealand under the rapid legislation of the then-COVID-19 pandemic. Guests attending the meeting attended the official opening ceremony of the dam.
photo: New Zealand ME
The FNDC criticised the Act’s current tangata whenua involvement as limited to post-settlement governance entities.
This has caused problems in the Far North, where the largest iwi, the Ngāpuhi, prefers compensation rather than resolution.
Of the 100 Treaty of Waitangi claim settlements in the Far North, 11 are associated with Treaty of Waitangi claim settlements.
“The bill does not provide room for proper consultation and engagement with families, tribes and tribes.”
At the same time, it said the legislation needed to take climate change into more serious considerations.
“The bill focuses on whether climate change will affect the project, not whether the project will lead to increased emissions or cause an increase in the frequency of … severe climate events,” it said.
“Completing such a project in Northland could limit the region’s ability to meet its zero carbon targets and comply with Te Tai Tokerau’s climate adaptation strategy.”
The FNDC wants the bill to detail how each project will contribute to New Zealand’s 2050 net zero carbon emissions target.
Meanwhile, Northland Regional Council has called for a more balanced approach in new fast-track legislation.
– LDR is a local news organisation jointly funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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