Some of the listed projects include those that had previously been rejected by the Environment Court amid a range of activities that raise questions of possible conflicts of interest for the ministers authorised to approve the projects, particularly where it relates to projects involving their campaign donors and business associates.
In response to the Fast-track projects slated for Northland, impacted communities and hapū iwi have swung into action.
The McCullum Brothers’ proposal to dredge up to 9 million cubic metres of sand over 35 years across the Bream Bay area has been met with widespread community and iwi opposition – from beach-front protests to a flotilla of hundreds of boats protesting on Whangārei Harbour.
I received a petition organised by Endangered Species Foundation with 14,000 signatures against the Bream Bay Sand Mining project and have spoken in the House numerous times in opposition to the Fast-track and the sand mining proposal of McCullum Brothers.
Worryingly, the rubber has now hit the road with a Fast-track project in the Bay of Islands, a proposed 250-berth marina development plus retail and hospitality outlets as well as a petrol station in Waipiro Bay, near Te Rawhiti.
Locals say it’s a threat to the health of the marine and coastal environment and the communities who rely on this. Unfortunately, Fast-track applications are not made public, so the community largely doesn’t know what’s coming, and in the Wapiro Bay case, local people have found the pace at which this thing has been given the green light to be overwhelming.
Unlike the Stop Sand Mining in Bream Bay campaign – the Stop Waipiro Bay Marina campaign has to move at pace as a May 15 deadline for respondents on the Waipiro Bay Marina Proposal to lodge their views on to the Fast-track portal. The community is not sitting on its hands.
As local hapū of the area, Ngāti Kuta, Te Patu Keha have launched the “Stop Waipiro Bay Marina” campaign to raise awareness of the project, invite community, hapū iwi, residents and concerned stakeholders to join a united push back with letters of support and an online petition which is swiftly garnering thousands of signatures.
But unfortunately, hapū and iwi alike lack capacity and capability in this process.
They are not helped by the short timeline for responding to complex applications in an online portal, nor by their limited access to technicians such as surveyors or legal counsel who can support the local community’s responses, not to mention the lack of financial resources.
With these projects being rushed through, on top of ongoing struggles to protect the environment from threats such as toxic caulerpa at Ōmakiwi Bay, there’s a feeling among the local community of being under siege.
The Fast-track Approvals Act undermines our democracy and shuts out community voice.
But we have to keep raising our voices to ensure we are heard, because what we are feeling in the north will be felt right across the country as other communities are hit by the short-sighted law. Let’s make a noise that can’t be ignored.
Join our Stop Waipiro Bay Face Book Group: facebook.com/groups/2840987309438132
Sign our Stop Waipiro Bay Marina Petition by May 10.
Visit: our.actionstation.org.nz
