Court approves cement works

"Positive" to "disappointed" were the range of reactions yesterday to an Environment Court decision which clears the way for Holcim (New Zealand) Ltd to build a $400 million cement plant in the Waiareka Valley, near Weston.

•  Mixed reaction to Holcim consent

The court is expected to publicly release its decision today, but the Otago Daily Times learnt yesterday resource consents for the plant would be approved, subject to conditions.

Holcim (New Zealand) Ltd yesterday welcomed the decision but still has to decide whether to build the factory.

Holcim is not expected to make that decision until next year.

"We understand that people will now look to us for an answer on whether the plant will go ahead or not," Holcim's capital projects manager Ken Cowie said yesterday.

However, that was a "very significant business decision", which had to be made with care.

Holcim needed to study the 100-page decision before it could comment fully.

It would be analysed and a report prepared for the company's New Zealand board of directors, which had its next meeting in November.

Further studies needed to be carried out, including a detailed costing of the project, before the New Zealand board made a recommendation to its parent company in Switzerland, which would make the final decision.

The Waiareka Valley Preservation Society was "disappointed with the outcome", but nevertheless phoned Holcim yesterday to congratulate it on the decision.

Society spokesman Rodney Jones said the society would not appeal the court's decision to the High Court, something which would need to be done on points of law.

Parties have 15 working days in which to lodge a further appeal.

Otago Chamber of Commerce Waitaki spokesman Fraser McKenzie said it was a "positive outcome" and urged Holcim to give an early indication on whether the plant would be built, given the value of the project to the community in the current economic recession.

The chamber supported the plant, providing environmental concerns could be addressed, issues Mr McKenzie felt had been canvassed fully through the resource consents process.

The plant was given resource consents by the Otago Regional and Waitaki District Councils in February last year, but they were appealed to the Environment Court by the preservation society, which opposed the project, and Holcim, which wanted to clarify some of the conditions.

After mediation before the court hearing, the appeal grounds were narrowed to the land-use consent issued by the Waitaki council for the cement plant and associated activities.

Holcim, the society and other parties involved in the appeal, heard earlier this year in Oamaru, received the 100-page decision yesterday.