University students have occupied the site of Solid Energy's proposed opencast mine in Happy Valley, 17km northeast of Westport, in protest at coal-fuelled energy generation and coal mining.
Group spokeswoman Jo McVeagh said students from environment groups all over New Zealand made the three-hour trek into the valley on Sunday to
join the occupation.
"Our week-long occupation sends a clear message to business leaders and politicians that, as New Zealanders, we will not allow our natural heritage to be ruined to satisfy the business sector's greed."
About 20 students from Otago, Massey, Victoria and Canterbury universities have occupied a site adjacent to the Orikaka Ecological Area.
The surrounding area is home to great spotted kiwi, kaka and western weka, as well as threatened Powelliphanta snails.
State-owned Solid Energy has applied for resource consent for two opencast pits that will cover 105ha of the 256ha site. It aims to extract 500,000 tonnes of coal each year for 10 years, mostly for export.
Buller Mayor Pat O'Dea said the occupation represented an ill-conceived protest by a "bunch of economic saboteurs".
"The Cypress mine, like most mining operations now, is going to be high-tech. The disasters of decades gone by are well and truly gone as technology has improved."
Mr O'Dea said the protesters were jeopardising the employment of thousands in the South Island. The Midland railway line and Lyttelton Port depended on West Coast coal.
- NZPA
