Thornton residents say money from sand mine should go back to community

Thornton residents want to see sand mining royalties from the quarry returned to the community. Photo / Diane McCarthy

Every week, Thornton residents see at least 40 truck and trailer loads of sand rumbling along Thornton Beach Rd, heading from council reserve land to locations around the North Island.

They believe the money Whakatane District Council receives for the sand from Watchorns Transport should go back into their community – in line with a historic "arrangement". They say the money could be spent to installing security cameras or replacing their vandalised shower.

Whakatāne district councillor Gavin Dennis has asked council staff to put together an in-depth report on the Thornton sand mine after receiving numerous queries in the past six months from residents concerned about the increasing amounts of sand being taken from the area.

"[They] have been saying that there is an increase in the amount of sand coming out. Other sand mining businesses have shut down, so it's become quite important. I think, for the benefit of our district, we should be getting fair recompense for the product taken."

The topic came up at a projects and services committee meeting during discussions on a report by community experience general manager Georgina Fletcher.

Dennis reminded Fletcher of a conversation they had some time ago about putting security cameras at the Thornton Reserve and paying for them from the money the council received from the sand mining lease.

At the time, around Christmas 2020, there had been increased levels of anti-social behaviour and vandalism in the area.

"What's happened to those cameras, and have we worked out how much money is coming from the sand mining?" Dennis asked.

A particular sore point with locals is that the vandalised outdoor shower and tap at the council-operated toilets had not been replaced.

Sources told Local Democracy Reporting the council receives a royalty of around $1 a cubic metre from the sand mining lease.

Fletcher was not able to say how much the contractor paid.

"We have not had sufficient time to contact the contractor to discuss matters of commercial sensitivity, including costs," she said.

However, she said the contractor paid a flat rate per cubic metre of sand removed from the mining permit area and has a right to renew the agreement through to January 2027.

The truck and trailer units are believed to have a capacity of around 60 to 80 cubic metres each. Over two hours last Friday, Local Democracy Reporting observed four truck and trailer units fill up with sand at the Thornton quarry.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said he had heard Watchorns was on-selling the sand for about $11 a cubic metre.

The shower and tap that were vandalised at the Thornton toilets in 2020 have still not been replaced.

"So, everybody's getting rich except for Thornton community."

Heyden Johnston, who has lived next door to the sand mine for many years, said he had worked hard with the council and the police to get cameras installed and had raised the issue with the council about injecting the money made from the sand mine back into the Thornton community.

"Security cameras are something the community has been pushing for. Increasing the security of the area will make it a nicer place for everyone."

He said the council had agreed to do so. "But we've yet to see that happen."

Fletcher said at the March 24 meeting that the council was continuing to investigate the installation of cameras.

"But there is a lot of further work to do to make sure that, even if we put them in, that the technology is right to speak into the police stations.

"An increased police presence over the [most recent] holidays did have a positive impact, so cameras are not always the answer."

Johnston said the council was just trying to save money.

"It's just a cost-saving exercise. They know what needs to be done. The police agree. I've had meetings here with Georgina, with the police, I've had all manner of councillors here, the mayor, deputy mayor. Everybody agrees that it's the best solution, but nobody wants to spend the money.

"We have income coming from a sand mine so it wouldn't need to come as a direct cost to the council. In their opinion the money just goes into a slush fund – well it shouldn't, it should be coming back to our community.

Johnston said the money being spent in Thornton was part of an arrangement that had been made between locals and the council when the contract was awarded, to allow the sand mining to continue.

"It appears that [the arrangement] didn't make it into the actual contractual agreement.

They know they're supposed to, but they're not bound to do it. It's also the right thing to do, to be honest."

Dennis said he had heard that sand from the Thornton mining operation was being used as far away as Auckland, Tauranga and Hamilton and in plastering goods sold at hardware stores.

He had also heard the mining company had recently bought a new million-dollar sand cleaning device.

"So, it must be paying for itself," he said.

He requested an in-depth report to councillors in the next month outlining the operation including who owned what, how much sand was being removed, how much trucking was being done, what was being charged and where the money was going.

Councillor Gerard van Beek said the sand mining had been "a perennial bee in the bonnet" of former councillor George Johnston, and there had been a lot of commentary around whether the royalty for each cubic metre of sand removed was being received.

"Previously we were being told that the royalty was being paid straight into parks and reserves," van Beek said.

"Perhaps there needs to be a discussion among the accountants and council as to whether that still is the appropriate place to go for a royalty for [the sand].

Fletcher told Dennis that she would be happy to put together a report and give advice on the agreement that is in place for the sand mining. It could be done for the next projects and services committee meeting.

Fletcher told Local Democracy Reporting the operation required a mining permit issued by Crown Minerals, a division of the Ministry of Economic Development, along with resource consents from the Whakatāne District Council and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, with a requirement to construct a wetland as remediation for the site.

The amount of sand that could be taken was limited by the number of heavy vehicle movements to the site, which was restricted to a maximum of 200 a calendar month and a maximum of 30 heavy vehicle movements on any one day.

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air