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Kings Quarry in Waitoki is proposing to expand, a project that would remove more than 29 hectares of vegetation from an Auckland Council Significant Ecological Area (SEA) and Natural Heritage Outstanding Natural Landscape, as well as impacting the surrounding rural community.
Pebblebrook Properties (which has the same directors as Kings Quarry) owns the site, which totals around 152 hectares and is located on the unsealed Pebble Brook Road. The proposed Stage 2 expansion requires resource consent under the Auckland Unitary Plan and the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater 2020.
The project was referred for the government’s Covid-19 fast-track consenting process by the Minister for the Environment and is one of the final projects to be dealt with under that system, although last week government progressed a new fast-track consent system.
Rodney Local Board deputy chair Louise Johnston says residents are angry because fast-track consenting will not enable public consultation. They are planning a public meeting to discuss their concerns, which include the unsealed road, noise, dust, visual effects, and the destruction of bush where some believe kiwi are present.
The application’s Ecological Impact report does not mention kiwi, but shows that native plants and wildlife, including long-tailed bats (whose conservation status is threatened – nationally critical), would be affected, together with streams that flow through the site. It is also noted that the expanded quarry would reduce connectivity to 32 hectares of the SEA to the northeast, leaving that area open to degradation.
Overall, the effects are assessed as ‘high’ to ‘very high’ in the report.
To mitigate the environmental effects, an ‘offsetting package’ is proposed that includes pest control on 28ha of bush alongside the quarry, around 3ha of replanting alongside the SEA, and replanting as quarrying is completed. There would also be planting and other enhancement in Hawkins Road, 16km north of the site, and in the Whau Valley, Whangārei.
The Ecological Impact Assessment notes that although vegetation loss would not be permanent, as the Stage 2 quarry footprint would be progressively replanted, it could take at least 120 years for a similar functioning natural habitat to establish.
Production at the quarry would increase from the current 300,000 tonnes of aggregate annually to 500,000 tonnes annually (for 45 years) under the proposal and this would have flow-on effects for the community, namely job creation and provision of materials used in construction, particularly with growth in the surrounding area. The application also notes that the ability to service developing areas nearby will save bulk transport of materials, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
However, Johnston says despite this, the cost to the environment if the expansion goes ahead would be very high.
“The sheer amount of bush to be felled blew me away,” she says. “It’s a massive project and when the local board was asked whether we thought it was suitable for fast-tracking, we said ‘no’, because of the size of what is proposed. I am not a planner, but I would have hoped that if the consent went through the council resource consent process, the significance of it would have resulted in full public notification.”
The fast-track consenting process includes seeking comment from local authorities such as council, relevant organisations, which may include Forest and Bird, and neighbours.
A council spokesperson says they have specialists looking closely at the application and will prepare a response which will include feedback from the local board and Rodney Cr Greg Sayers.
The decision falls to an independent panel of experts, which will be appointed by Judge Laurie Newhook.
Kings Quarry was contacted for comment but no response was received by the paper’s deadline.
All the information is freely available as the process moves forward at www.epa.govt.nz/fast-track-consenting/fast-track-projects/
