Seismic concerns dismissed

Ben Pearce has put plans to move to Westshore on hold until he knows more about seismic testing approved to take place on land near Hawke's Bay Airport. Photo / Duncan Brown

Napier City Council has rejected a claim by Labour candidate Stuart Nash that it has made a "huge mistake" allowing an oil company to undertake seismic testing near Hawke's Bay Airport.

The council has approved an application by Endeavour Energy to undertake a seismic survey on Landcorp land west of the airport, saying it had no grounds to refuse the application.

Seismic testing, described in the company's consent application as "the first step in the oil and gas exploration process", involves drilling 10-metre-deep bores, letting off explosive charges and recording the resulting seismic activity to gain "subsurface information" of the area's geology.

In its application, Endeavour Energy said cables and "geophones" to record seismic activity would be run over the Ahuriri Estuary, which is managed by the Department of Conservation. The work is expected to take four to six weeks.

The granting of the consent was a concern for Ahuriri artist Ben Pearce, who said he had put house-hunting plans in Westshore on hold until he knew more about it.

"We're going to hold off. We want to find out more about the area. How would it change the perception of Napier if we were to have that here?" Mr Nash said the council had made a huge mistake granting the consent application and seismic testing was the first step in a process that would inevitably lead to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the area.

"When tourists arrive at the airport, the first thing they will see is the beginning of the fracking story in Napier," he said.

The council's senior resource consents planner, Paul O'Shaughnessy, said the seismic survey work applied for was not considered to result in adverse effects on the area or to be contrary to the policies and objectives of the district plan.

"There are, therefore, not considered to be grounds to notify the application for public submission or to justify refusal of the application," he said.

"The wider principle of mineral extraction was not available for discussion within the scope of this resource consent."

Mr Nash's National Party opponent in the Napier electorate, Wayne Walford, said fracking had been undertaken in New Zealand for the 20 years without serious incident, and oil and gas exploration offered a potential economic boost for Hawke's Bay.

Paul Bailey, from the group Don't Frack the Bay, and the Green Party candidate for Napier, said he was astonished to learn of the application and it would prompt the group to strengthen its call for Napier to be declared "frack-free".