Hundreds in Northland protest fast-tracked sand mining operation

By Victor Waters - RNZ

Hundreds of people in Northland took to Te Ākau Bream Bay’s water and beaches on Sunday to protest a fast-tracked sand mining operation.

A flotilla of more than 50 watercraft converged from Whangārei Heads to Langs Beach to oppose the proposal to dredge nearly 8.5 million cubic metres of sand over the next 35 years.

Auckland-based sand mining company McCallum Brothers is currently in the process of applying for resource consent to extract sand. Their website states it is their way of being transparent with the public.

Local residents and environmental advocates say that the operation would cause irreversible damage to the seafloor, wildlife, and coastline.

Protesters waved various signs against sand mining from their boats, against the proposal which has approval to apply for fast-track consenting. Photo / Geoff Reid

Mary Sinclair from Save Bream Bay Sand said it was an incredibly successful day, bringing the many affected local communities together.

“The energy is really, really apparent, nobody is going to give up on this process, we are here for the duration and will take all the steps we can to protect Bream Bay as it is,” Sinclair said.

“I’ve been coming to Langs beach for 70 years, I’m over 70 years old, we haven’t had the togetherness of this community that we’ve got now. Māori and non-Māori, from Langs beach right through to Whangārei Heads.

“If you were on the water today you would have been amazed at the connections that were being made and what people were saying to each other, the community is getting into gear and we won’t stop.”

The protesters are worried about the environmental impacts of the sand mining but company McCallum Bros says concerns will be addressed. Photo / Geoff Reid

The protest comes after a petition of 14,000 signatures in opposition to sand mining at Te Ākau Bream Bay was handed to Green MP Hūhana Lyndon last week.

The proposed sand mining site lies 5km offshore from Waipū, Langs, Uretiti, and Ruakākā beaches, which are vital habitats for sea life such as tara iti (New Zealand fairy tern), where there are 40 adult birds left, and endangered hawksbill turtles have been spotted there.

The boats hit the water where the sand mining will take place, about 5km offshore from Ruakaka Beach. Photo / Geoff Reid

Sinclair said she also had concerns for the returning scallop population in Bream Bay.

“What they’ll do they’ll continue to decimate what has begun to re-grow and we’ll lose them to Bream Bay.

“When you lose the scallops on the sea floor and lose other sea life on the sea floor then your fish start suffering, the fish have the food they need to grow and they’ll disappear.

“You take away the fish and have an impact on all the birds, we have species like dotterel and other birds in this area which have numbers that are declining and they’ll disappear.”

About 50 boats took to the water on Sunday to protest McCallum Brothers' sand mining plans for Bream Bay and were treated to fine weather. Photo / Geoff Reid

She said mining could also impact Bream Bay’s enclosed sand system.

“They take sand from here it will not refill from outside and then you’ll start altering what happens with the waves and the water which will start altering the sand dunes.

“If you look at the ecological impact here they will have an impact on every part of that going forward, particularly if it’s for the next 35 years.”

The “Save Bream Bay Sand” advocate encouraged the McCallum Bros to look at other sand alternatives.

She said sand mining from the sea floor is a practice that’s declining internationally because of it’s environmental impacts.

“We all want the New Zealand economy to grow, that’s not a question, we know that for that we need concrete and need more roads.

“But we also know sand can be manufactured from aggregate we know that there are other sources of sand on land that are being quarried and there’s no need to take it from the sea floor.”