23 Nov 2017

New Conservation Minister faces big call on coal mine plan

From Morning Report, 8:52 am on 23 November 2017

Stevenson Mining won consent from local councils this week for a coal mine at Mt Te Kuha near Westport. It would employ 58 people and mine 250,000 tonnes of coal a year.

The new government plans to ban new mines on conservation land, but it will treat this application under the existing law. New Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage will have to decide whether the proposed coal mine can go ahead, but Green Party colleagues say the mine will have catastrophic environmental impacts.