Schedule 4 submission period extended

Schedule 4 submission period extended

Minister of Energy and Resources Gerry Brownlee and Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson have announced an extension to the public submission period on the government’s proposals outlined on March 22 in the discussion paper Maximising our Mineral Potential: Stocktake of Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act and beyond.

The public submission period will be extended for three weeks from the initially proposed deadline of 5.00pm on Tuesday 4 May 2010. Submissions on the government’s proposals will now close at 5.00pm on Wednesday 26 May 2010.

Mr Brownlee said Ministers had agreed that in the interests of fairness the submission period should be extended while the government completed the stakeholder engagement process.

“Cabinet agreed hui would be held with iwi significantly affected by the government’s proposals. These meetings will be held in early May. It is important that iwi have an opportunity to provide written submissions after the hui, so we have decided to extend the dates for all submissions to 26 May,” Mr Brownlee said.

Ms Wilkinson said there had been considerable public interest in the government’s proposals, and the extension would provide an opportunity for those who have not yet made submissions to do so.

“The Ministry of Economic Development has received over 14,000 submissions to date. All will be considered over the coming months, before final recommendations are made to Cabinet later in the year,” Ms Wilkinson said.

The discussion document and information on the submission process is available at www.med.govt.nz/schedule4.

ENDS