Hawkeswood Mining Ltd has applied to the Otago Regional Council (ORC) and the Central Otago District Council (CODC) for consent to establish and operate an alluvial gold-mine in a rural resource area at Millers Flat, near Roxburgh.
The hearing will be held in the Millers Flat Hall and will be presided over by commissioners Louise Taylor (chairwoman), Ros Day and Craig Welsh.
Today, the commissioners will hear submissions from Hawkeswood Mining, Central Otago residents for and against the gold mine, and the Millers Flat Water Company, which made a neutral submission to the CODC.
Planners for both the ORC and CODC have recommended the commissioners decline resource consent for the alluvial gold-mining operation.
The planners’ report also revealed the company had been in trouble for carrying out unconsented work at the site, an abatement notice having been issued for mining activities in May last year and another in February this year over the building of a green-waste recycling facility.
Tomorrow, submissions will be heard from Kāi Tahu and the council planners.
CODC contract planner Olivia Stirling said Hawkeswood’s application was lacking when it came to the potential cultural impact of the operation.
"I consider that without sufficient evidence to the contrary that the application may lead to irreversible damage to the wāhi tapu [places sacred to iwi] linked with the site."
The CODC received 469 submissions on Hawkeswood’s consent application — eight opposing, 457 in support, three neutral and one unspecified.
The ORC received 10 submissions — four in support, five in opposition and one neutral.
