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Northport’s bid for a multimillion dollar container terminal at Marsden Point hit a roadblock when independent commissioners turned down the application this month.
The company applied to the Northland Regional Council and Whangārei District Council in 2022 for resource consents for a 11.7 hectare reclamation, 250 metre wharf extension and 1.7 million cubic metres of dredging.
In their 96-page ruling, commissioners weighed up the employment and economic benefits against environmental and cultural concerns, and ruled in favour of the latter.
An earlier Northland Inc study found the project would create 1500 new jobs and a $160 million GDP boost.
Northport’s development as a major container port would increase its freight storage and handling capacity, and take pressure off the congested Ports of Auckland.
The commissioners noted that a dedicated container terminal at Whangārei could form an integral part of an efficient national network of safe ports.
But they refused consents because of the scale and extent of the proposed reclamation, and the effects of severing the physical relationship to the cultural landscape, the beach, the dunes and the marine and coastal area – effects which they said would not be mitigated by Northport’s proposed conditions.
Northport said earlier it was committed to the resource consent process, but it also applied to be included in a schedule of the government’s pending fast-track legislation.
The decision can be found at: www.nrc.govt.nz/Northportconsent
