Te Rūnaka o Ōtākou is questioning whether Port Otago is building an inland port near Mosgiel because it can no longer claim any other land in the harbour. The Southern Link Logistics Park is a joint venture between Port Otago and Dynes Transport to build an inland port and logistics hub at Dukes Rd North with a rail siding and up to 80,000sq m of high stud warehousing. In its submission, Te Rūnaka o Ōtākou wondered if the application for the inland port was a result of constraints in the Otago Harbour, which made future reclamation impractical or unfeasible. “The application does not clearly address whether the grant of consent to the proposed inland port will lead to a commitment by Port Otago there will be no further reclamation by the port in the Otago Harbour,” the submission said. “In discussions with Port Otago, it was understood by Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou that such a commitment would be made, provided the inland port proposal were to be granted consent.” But Te Rūnaka o Ōtākou said in recent discussions, Port Otago now appeared to be unwilling to commit to no further reclamation in the Otago Harbour. “This raised an important issue for the fast-track panel in terms of assessing the claimed benefits of the inland port proposal as well as the consideration of adverse environmental, cultural, and Treaty [of Waitangi] effects.” The application emphasised further reclamation was not feasible and it was clear that was the basis of the application, the submission said. Should the reclamation now change, the benefits claimed in the application would need careful evaluation and review. The Treaty impact assessment, prepared on behalf of Te Rūnaka o Ōtākou, said the Taieri catchment, where the inland port was proposed to be located, held “profound cultural significance for mana whenua”. Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou said the acceptability of the proposal would ultimately depend on several factors: the final decisions of the Southern Link partners, especially with respect to wastewater and stormwater system design; the commitment to implement a full suite of proposed and additional mitigation measures; the incorporation of appropriate conditions into any consent granted; and the establishment of genuine partnership arrangements for ongoing management of cultural effects. There also had to be recognition the treaty impact assessment was a living document, which might be updated as discussions progressed. The submission said the Fast-track Approval Act had to function and act in a manner consistent with the obligations arising under existing Treaty settlements. If reclamation was continuing then the inland port would be reassessed on a very different basis. “Such a reassessment may well conclude the proposal would be unacceptable from a cultural and environmental effects perspective. These effects, combined with the potential for additional reclamation of Port of Otago, appear inconsistent with the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1988.” Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders said there were no plans for large-scale reclamation. “The port had targeted some major reclamation in previous decades and we haven’t undertaken any significant reclamation in the last 10 years,” Mr Winders said. “So, clearly the inland port enables us to have more land side and then we don’t need to be able to effectively reclaim any large amounts of land out of the harbour.” Over time it would be carrying out work such as changing wharves in response to bigger ships and reconfiguration of its infrastructure, he said. “But large-scale reclamation is something we don’t support.”
