West Coast Council Boss Defends Use Of North Island Consultants

Friday, 9 May 2025, 8:05 pm
Article: Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter

West Coast Regional Council boss Darryl Lew is defending the council’s use of consultancy firms for resource consents, while also hitting back at criticisms made from Cr Allan Birchfield.

Mr Birchfield - a Greymouth goldminer and former regional council chair - claimed that the council’s Consents and Compliance team has grown from four in his day to thirteen, yet the council is still using North Island consultancy firms.

Consultants were delaying and declining gold mining water consents and asking “stupid” questions because they were unfamiliar with the industry and the West Coast, Mr Birchfield claimed.

But Mr Lew says the WCRC employs seven full-time compliance or consents officers, and stands by the integrity of its resource consent process, and the professionalism of its staff and contracted consultants.

"The most recent quarterly report to Council presented yesterday shows all 27 resource consents issued during that quarter were processed within the statutory timeframe permitted.”

The council employed consultancies at times to help with resource consent work, especially when there was an increased workload or reduced in-house capacity, Mr Lew said.

That was the case at the moment, with several notified applications on the books, including the Mananui Mineral Sands Mining consent.

"When consents officers are managing multiple large-scale applications progressing to hearings, they require extensive assessment and often occupy most of an officer’s workload.”

Mr Birchfield claimed this week that Wellington consultants had asked questions, that a competent local consents officer would not have asked.

Mr Lew said the consulting firms all had to follow the same statutory process under the RMA, and a consent authority had to have enough information to make a fully informed decision.

“Consultants are expected, as are council consents officers, to seek further information where needed, including site visits, local mapping, or input from regional staff to ensure the specific context of an application is understood.”

The costs fell on the person applying for the consent, whether the work was done in house or by a consultant.

The council had an open-door for applicants and the agents submitting applications on their behalf, and was happy to speak to them directly, Mr Lew said.

“This includes offering pre-application meetings, phone or email guidance, and support during the processing stage wherever possible.”

Cr Birchfield also claimed that council compliance staff had been taking police escorts on site visits recently and turning up without notice after heavy rain had muddied creeks.

But Mr Lew said council staff had not taken police escorts to inspect mines.

"Under the RMA, staff members have the right to go on site with or without prior notice and the council is responsible for the health and safety of its staff on site visits.”

It was a requirement of resource consents for mining operations to control water during rainfall events, he said.

-LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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