"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.
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.
In it, Judge Gordon Whiting dismissed the society's appeal and confirmed the land-use consent for the construction and operation of the cement plant.
However, some conditions were altered.
While reserving the issue of the costs of the appeal, Judge Whiting expressed the "tentative view" they should lie where they fell.
The plant would cover a site of about 24ha, initially producing 650,000 tonnes of cement a year, rising to 880,000 tonnes at full production.
There would be a coal mine at Ngapara and sand quarry at Windsor.
The society gave evidence a new cement plant was not needed in New Zealand because cement demand was declining with the current economic recession.
Holcim had made no final decision to proceed with the plant and the society suggested it was uncertain the project would be undertaken.
The court said the plant was a long-term investment - a minimum of 50 years and as long as 100 years.
While cement demand fluctuated, the long-term trend was for increased demand.
"The decision on whether to proceed with the Weston project is a commercial decision for the Holcim board.
It is not for this court to pre-empt that commercial decision on the grounds of business uncertainty," the court said.
The decision
• What:Holcim (New Zealand) Ltd has proposed a $400 million cement plant 2.5km from Weston along with coal mine and limestone and sand quarries in the Waiareka Valley.
Additional $100 million would be spent on storage, transport, shipping facilities and new ships.
Would employ up to 450 during construction; about 100 when plant is operating.
Environment Court has granted consents, subject to conditions.
• Where to from here?
Environment Court decision will be reviewed by Holcim's project team.
Holcim's New Zealand board of directors will decide whether to endorse the project to its parent company, Holcim Ltd, which will make a final decision.
It would take about two years to build, with a further six to 12 months for testing and commissioning.
Production could start by 2013.
