A Santana Facebook post on February 20 showed images of the tower and an accompanying building on the summit of Battery Hill in the Bendigo hills, which Santana wants to dig for gold. The mining company’s plan is being considered by a panel under the Fast-Track Approvals Act.
The post, which has been taken down, said the installation was a "big day" and made a "massive difference behind the scenes ... it’s the backbone that lets a modern site actually function".
There had been "final heli-lifts to install the comms building and tower at the summit. It’s powder-coated to stop sun glare and built to blend in".
However, an abatement notice and accompanying letter, dated March 6 and obtained by the Otago Daily Times, was sent by the Central Otago District Council to Santana and landowner Bendigo Station Ltd.
The tower and building contravened planning rules that prevented large structures in a region designated an Outstanding Natural Landscape, the notice and letter said.
Required resource consents had "not been obtained".
The structures must be taken down and the site reverted to its original state. Alternately, Santana could shut down the tower and apply for "retrospective land-use consent to authorise all the activities".
Non-compliance could have resulted in prosecution.
Central Otago District Mayor Tamah Alley said Santana had "agreed to remove the antenna and building" and this would happen by March 30.
She stressed Santana was applying for consent to dig its mine under a process "established and promoted by central government".
There were other processes that fell to the council to deal with and "where they intersect, they can cause additional complexity".
"Communities rightly expect companies to operate within the law that applies to them and council’s role is to assess compliance against the relevant statutory requirements, not to speculate on motive or intent. My expectation is that any company undertaking work of this scale will be fully across the legal and regulatory obligations that apply to its activities."
Santana chief executive Damian Spring said "we believed it was permitted — that assessment was wrong, and we fixed it immediately".
The fact the tower had gone up, only to come down again, was an outcome of "rash and rushed behaviour".
"‘Do as you please and hope you don’t get caught’ seems to be their mantra, which is a serious worry when you consider the scale of their proposed mine and potential for serious environmental impacts," the spokeperson said.
It is not the first time Santana infrastructure had breached planning rules.
Another breach had been flagged in a council letter on June 25 last year to Bendigo Station, which has sold land to Santana, subject to approval from the Overseas Investment Office.
The letter said a "commercial activity" related to Santana’s mining plans was happening at 305 Bendigo Loop Rd and was in breach of the district plan’s Rural Resource Area rules.
An office, storage buildings and a processing shelter for ground core samples had been erected and were being used, the council said.
At least 15 people were engaged in working there. The rules only allowed for a maximum of three.
Buildings had not been painted in allowable colours and the contents of the shelter were not screened from public view.
The Sustainable Tarras spokesperson said the group was also concerned about recent excavation of Thomson Gorge Rd for installation of fibre optic cable leading to the mine site.
The excavation had caused destruction of trees and disruption on a quiet road lined with rural properties.
Given the mine was not a certainty, it was "premature for the council to allow these kinds of works that impact local people", they said.
In response to a local government official information request, the council said the work was "part of early enabling work" for the proposed mine.
The council was also considering a "widening and sealing project" along 1.7km of the road.
Council roading manager Paul Fleet said the council proposed allowing this work prior to mine approval, claiming it would give "tangible" safety improvements, remove dust, reduce noise and provide "health benefits".
