Society applies for Environment Court declaration

Press Release - 27 June

Waiareka Valley Preservation Society, Inc

Society applies for declaration from the Environment Court

Today the Waiareka Valley Preservation Society, Inc has applied to the Environment Court for four declarations on key matters related to the Holcim resource consent application to construct a cement plant at Weston, just outside Oamaru.

Rodney Jones, Spokesman for the Society commented:

“Holcim has continually claimed that they can meet all standards, and that their application is consistent with the District Plan. However, this is not the case.

Holcim’s application is not a comprehensive document. It leaves many gaps. It is important these gaps are filled before hearings are held.

Holcim’s attitude is ‘trust us, don’t worry’. They have provided a comfort document, not a substantive application. This is not good enough for a large-scale greenfield industrial development in a picturesque historical valley.

The Waiareka Valley Preservation Society has continually asked for more information. We have now being forced to take the step of going to the Environment Court to secure a stronger platform on which a resource consent decision can be made.”

The Society has asked the Environment Court for declarations on the following matters:

(i) That Holcim’s application is for a non-complying activity, given Holcim is unable to the meet the critical noise standards in the District Plan. Measurements taken by Holcim’s noise experts at Holcim’s Gladstone plant in Queensland and the Portland plant in Florence, Colorado do not meet the required noise standards. Marshall Day has merely stated that it should be feasible to meet the standards, but has not detailed how this would actually happen. Something that is feasible is only possible, not even probable. The District Plan requires compliance, not the possibility of compliance.

(ii) That the hearings on Variation 2, which relates to the Whitstone Bluffs (Te Ana Raki) being a significant natural landscape, and Variation 4, which relates to the 10m height limit in the Cement Policy Area, should be heard prior or at the same time as the Holcim resource consent as both of these Variations have a significant bearing on the application.

(iii) That the status of the 10m height restriction be resolved. While the Waitaki District Council’s position is that this restriction has been removed, we do not believe this interpretation is correct. When the proposed plan – which introduced the 10m height restriction - was notified in the 1990’s, no submissions were received. This means that the 10m height restriction remains operative.

(iv) That the Waitaki District Council has a duty to require Holcim to release data on the specifications of the plant and site so that a complete visual assessment can be prepared – including more accurate visual representations. The Society has requested Holcim for this data, and has asked the Council to request this data. In both cases, we were declined. We have now asked the Court to insist that this data is made available. If Hoilcim were truly consulting with the community, this step would not have been required.

A copy of the Application is available on request.

ENDS