The seven-person fast-track panel, headed by Matthew Muir KC (centre). Photo / RNZ, Katie Todd
By Katie Todd of RNZ
An Otago vineyard owner says a proposed gold mine in the Dunstan Hills could ruin the region’s reputation for some of the best pinot noir in the world, inflicting “terminal damage” on his business.
Appearing before a fast-track panel considering Australian company Santana Minerals’ application to build a large open-cast mine near Cromwell, Canyon Vineyard owner Hayden Johnston said viticulture and mining were fundamentally incompatible.
Santana Minerals argued the two industries could co-exist, and said on this week it was committed to ongoing engagement with the local community.
But Johnston told the seven-person panel the Bendigo-Ophir project would irreparably damage the landscape and kill customer demand.
“It’s the scale of it, it’s the nature of it, it’s the permanence, it’s the intergenerational effects and the toxicity that remains forever that makes this completely inappropriate,” he said.
Johnston said he was proud to put the Bendigo label on his wines but the area’s reputation for world-class pinot noir was at risk of being lost.
He told the panel he sought expert advice from a Griffith University tourism and marketing professor who advised that every part of his wine production and sales, events, wine tourism and accommodation business would suffer “irreparable and ultimately terminal damage”.
“In other words, co-existence would reduce customer demand and ultimately kill my business,” Johnston said.
“It’ll completely blow the wind out of my sails. It would be a depressing future to know that it’s going to get harder and harder.”
Santana Minerals has previously said the project would employ hundreds of people and be worth $6 billion in revenue and more than $1b in taxes and royalties for New Zealand.
Some local residents have backed the mine and have formed a Santana Mine Supporters group.
The fast-track panel also heard from resident Holger Reinecke, who lives in a historic woolshed restored as a home in 2002.
He said he was worried about the company’s disaster preparedness plans.
“I’d just like to note my astonishment as to how little consideration has been given to the seismic risks residing in the Dunstan mountains and further afield emanating from the Alpine Fault,” he said.
Reinecke said he and his wife decided to sell their property for personal reasons last year but buyers were wary of its proximity to the mine site.
“While some buyers are willing to consider properties further from the proposed access route, properties situated directly on or on the access route are encountering strong resistance,” he said.
The Trevathan family, who live under the proposed tailings dam, expressed concern about a catastrophic failure.
The family’s solicitor Bridget Irving told the panel that Santana Minerals’ application lacked detail and was not decision-ready.
“The location of this mine proposal is not in a remote, unpopulated, expansive or flat area as might be found, for example, in Australia or South Africa,” she said.
“People do live downstream and loss of life is foreseeable if the worst was to happen.”
Santana Minerals has previously said its application reflected years of detailed technical and environmental work and the fast-track process would not reduce scrutiny or standards.
Company lawyer Joshua Leckie was asked by panel chair Matthew Muir KC whether residents should be considered “collateral damage”.
“No, I don’t think they’re to be regarded as collateral damage. Their views are still relevant to your considerations,” Leckie said.
Leckie said Santana Minerals was committed to engaging with the mine’s neighbours and it would consider the suggestion of compensation.
The company’s management plans were sufficient to deal with the impacts, including a catastrophic event, but that would be something to explore further through the fast-track process of expert conferencing this month, Leckie said.
“There is an appropriate level of baseline information in the technical assessments and the evidence that’s been filed at this time,” he said.
Leckie said issues of mana whenua engagement were a key priority for the company as its application progressed.
The fast-track panel was expected to make a final decision on the mine in October.