It is critical Waitaki’s proposed district plan does not hamper development at Macraes Mine, a lawyer for Oceana Gold says. The Waitaki District Council is reviewing its district plan, described as the “community’s rulebook”, which sets out how land use and development is managed within the district. At the first of several hearings into the proposed plan this week, Oceana Gold legal manager, Jackie St John, said the company did not want “unintended consequences for the mine’’ or for the communities and the people who benefited from “the mine’s contributions to the district”. She told commissioners representatives for the East Otago gold mine would be regular attendees at the hearings. “We’ll be here regularly because it’s critical to Oceana Gold that the proposed plan enables and particularly does not unduly constrain our existing and also our future development of Macraes mine.” Oceana Gold is one of numerous firms, organisations and individuals which made submissions to the proposed district plan last year. The first set of hearings regarding the plan began on Wednesday and were scheduled to last three days. Further hearings covering different areas and issues will take place in coming months. The current district plan had a specific “Macraes Mining Project Mineral Zone” and Oceana Gold “strongly” supported the proposed retention and expansion of a “special purpose zone” in the proposed district plan, its submission stated. This special zone will be considered in October. Ms St John said the zone boundary at the gold mine, the largest in New Zealand, had been “outgrown”. A “right-sized zone” with the right boundaries would be a “massive” improvement.
