The large number of submissions the Dunedin City Council received on its submission on the 2014 petroleum exploration block offers is another reflection of the depth of feeling on the issue of oil and gas exploration, council staff say.
Having promised to consult the community before making its submission to government agency New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals on the block offers, the council received 227 submissions, most of them (199) saying the submitter was opposed to all oil and gas exploration.
Offers of blocks for oil and gas exploration have been regularly made in New Zealand; between 2002 and 2012 the Government held 15 block offers.
Since 2012, an annual permitting round has been used for allocating exploration permits.
Before blocks for offer are finally decided on, local councils with blocks in, or beside, their jurisdictions are consulted.
The Great South-Canterbury Basin off the Otago coast is one of the proposed areas for block offer.
Companies interested in exploration will make bids in September 2014 and permits will be awarded in December 2014, exploration starting in 2015.
DCC corporate policy team leader Maria Ioannou said she believed the depth of the response from the Dunedin community was because people had few outlets to express to the Government their views on oil and gas exploration. It showed people clearly wanted to do that, she said.
Protests up and down the country in the past week have also showed the depth of feeling on the issue.
Ms Ioannou said most of the responses expressed opposition to any exploration, and therefore expressed a political view rather than concern over any specific issues relating to the block offer process.
However, the feedback was nonetheless summarised and included in the council's submission, and all submissions were attached for New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals' information.
Some of the community's concerns were already reflected in the council's submission and other points were added.
She was happy the final submission to New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals reflected the community's general concerns, Ms Ioannou said.
The consultation process had been difficult, as the council had not had enough time to consult the community properly, and the consultation period had occurred during the local body election period, she said.
As a result, the submission had been made by the chief executive, rather than the council committee. The consultation was also very broad, and other than seeking any specific reasons why it might be technically difficult for companies to access or drill on the identified on-shore sites, it was a unclear exactly what New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals wanted from councils, she said.
While New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals did not have to consult councils, she felt it could have communicated better and that led her to question whose job it was to do that, Ms Ioannou said.
In the end, the council's submission had not differed greatly from its 2012 submission.
It still wanted to see more emphasis on the importance of engaging with the public on block offers; a more detailed exploration of benefits to local communities; more specific risk data and a refining of risk modelling, as well as an identified disaster management plan showing how civil defence emergency responses would be prepared for; and a cost-benefit analysis which took into account climate change adaptation costs.
And while those issues had not been addressed this year, the council was hopeful they would be in coming years, Ms Ioannou said.
Council staff had been impressed with the standard of submissions, which were for the most part well thought through and reasoned, she said.
''I don't feel like people should think it went nowhere.''
