Quarry proposal rejected by panel a week after being included in fast-track list

Chris Bishop is busy making the case for the fast-tracking bill being an important part of the Government’s growth agenda. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A controversial quarry had its application for consents under the Covid-19 fast-track law declined on Monday, but residents are frustrated that the project may still get the green light after it was included in a list of proposals to be included in the new fast-track regime.

Stages 2 and 3 of Auckland’s Kings Quarry Expansion, which will occupy 60ha near Wainui/Silverdale in the north, were included in a list of projects the Government will insert into its own fast-track bill which will be passed before the end of the year.

This does not automatically give a project the green light. Instead, it means the backers of a listed project can apply to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to have an expert panel assess the project and apply relevant conditions.

The bill is before Parliament’s environment committee, with a report due back by the end of this week. The Government has recommended the committee suggest changing the bill to allow those panels to decline approval for projects if they disapprove of them.

In a decision published on Monday, an expert panel under Labour’s Covid-19 iteration of a fast-track regime declined resource consent for stage 2 of the quarry’s expansion. The project’s backers have 15 working days to appeal the decision. The owners of the quarry did not respond to requests to comment.

Locals are concerned the project’s inclusion in the new fast-track regime resuscitates a rejected project.

One local, Alan Cato, told the Herald he felt Kings Quarry “were biding their time in terms of the fast-track legislation in which case could turn their back on all the preceding process”.

He said this was the first case of a project listed in the fast-track regime to have been rejected after the list was actually published.

Cato told the Herald he wants to see the proper process followed and wants the “right of response” to the proposal and the “right to apply conditions” to the consent.

He said if stages 2 and 3 of the expansion are approved, local residents want nearby roads to be sealed, “which addresses the issue of road safety, dust, and vibration”.

Infrastructure and RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop told the Herald that all 149 projects on the list for inclusion were “recommended by the independent advisory group and then confirmed by Cabinet”.

“Once the bill passes into law, the projects listed in Schedule 2 can apply to the EPA to have an expert panel assess their project, decide whether it receives consent, and then attach any necessary conditions for the relevant approvals. The applications will include, among other things, a description of the project’s effects on the environment and the panels will be required to consider those effects as part of the approval process,” Bishop said.

He also noted that the rejection of the consent included the remark that its rejection on Monday did not mean “that a future proposal to extend the quarry could not be consented ... the zoning clearly anticipates and provides for quarry uses on the land, extension to the quarry could have a number of positive benefits, and it is likely that the majority of adverse effects could be appropriately addressed through the measures and conditions proposed by the applicant”.

Bishop this week is busy making the case for the bill being an important part of the Government’s growth agenda, releasing a statement on Monday arguing the bill would “help rebuild our struggling economy and kick-start economic growth across the country”.

“Since 2022, New Zealand has battled anaemic levels of economic growth. If we want Kiwi kids to stop moving overseas, better public services, and a lower cost of living: economic growth is the only answer,” Bishop said.

Attached to the statement were supportive remarks from the likes of Forsyth Barr, BusinessNZ chief executive Katherine Rich, James Smith from the National Road Carriers Association, Bridget Abernethy from the Electricity Retailers Association, Finn McDonald from the Employers and Manufacturers Association, Nick Leggett from Infrastructure NZ and even Gary Taylor, chairman and executive director of the Environmental Defence Society, who while criticising large parts of the bill also said that “a lot of the infrastructure projects look good”, particularly those in renewable energy and housing.

Thomas Coughlan is deputy political editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.