Part One examined the public summary of an Application to mine gemstones from Gemstone Beach. Part Two described the public outcry that resulted. Part Three looked at the Applicant’s response to this public reaction as reported in two newspaper articles. Part Four identified Environment Southland regulations concerning the removal of stones from beaches.
As I noted in Part Two, in late August New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals was flooded with emails objecting to this Application. At the beginning of September, I sent a message to NZ Petroleum and Minerals asking if the full version of this Application was able to be viewed, not just a summary of it. I received a prompt reply that stated:
“Thank you for your email. I can confirm that we have received your feedback and are in the process of formulating a more detailed response for you. Details of the application can be found by searching the application number in our Online Permitting System here. More detailed instructions on how to conduct a search can be found here. Please note that you will require pop-ups to be enabled to use the search function. If you are instead requesting specific documents provided by the applicant to support their application, please let me know and I can submit your request under the Official Information Act 1982.”
No doubt NZ Petroleum and Minerals at this stage was trying to work out how to respond to all the emails that had come its way. I replied to the above email as follows:
“Thanks for your quick response. Looking forward to your more detailed response. One of my main questions is: If granted this Permit, will the Applicant be able to prevent anyone else from collecting stones from the area?”
Today, a week later, I received this response:
“Thank you for your correspondence regarding permit application 61382.01, which is currently under evaluation by New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (NZP&M). NZP&M administers the Crown Minerals Act 1991 (CMA), which governs the allocation of rights to prospect for, explore, and mine Crown-owned minerals in New Zealand. You can read more on the legislation we administer at Legislation we act under. When assessing an application, NZP&M can only apply the statutory tests set out in the CMA. This includes an applicant’s proposed work programme, technical and financial capability, compliance history and a high-level assessment of an operator’s health and safety capability. The CMA does not allow us to consider public submissions as part of our assessment. You can keep up-to-date on the status of this permit application via our Online permitting system.”
I know that other people have received a very similar email as a response to their objection. One of its main points, that there are limited criteria for assessing an application, had already been noted in a newspaper article in the Southland Times on 4 September. The same article noted that the Crown Minerals Act Act does not allow for the consideration of public submissions in the application process. Unfortunately, the email did not provide an answer to my question, “If granted this Permit, will the Applicant be able to prevent anyone else from collecting stones from the area?” This is one of the key concerns of objectors.
The final Post in this Series is “Application Withdrawn”.
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