Rena - submissions closed and counted

PHOTO/APN

More than 150 public submissions have been made on the application from Astrolabe Community Trust to leave the remains of Rena wreck on Astrolabe Reef, Bay of Plenty Regional Council chariman Douglas Leeder today announced.

Submissions closed today at 5pm and the council said it would make all submissions public once each of them had been checked.

"We hope to have all submissions received loaded onto www.renaresourceconsent.org.nz by Monday of next week," Mr Leeder said.

The council also released its own submission.

In its submission the council has has not taken a stand in favour of or against the application for resource consent, instead focused on seeking stringent consent conditions should the consent be eventually granted by the consenting authority.

"We want to ensure that any consent conditions imposed are robust and that we carry out our statutory obligations under the Local Government Act 2002 and the Maritime Transport Act 1994."

Mr Leeder also noted that the ongoing programme of work to clean up the debris field would take a considerable period of time, regardless of the outcome of and time taken by the consenting process.

"This work will continue as we move to the next stage of the resource consent process, which is the compilation and summary of the submissions received. If the Application becomes a matter for the Environment Court, then the role of our Council as regulatory authority is to be an adviser to that Court."

Mr Leeder said following any application received to refer to the Environment Court, the Council would have 15 days to consider the referral and a further 20 days to get its technical report finalised.

"This is a lengthy process but it is necessary to ensure that all submissions receive careful consideration and attention, " he said.