Towards A Common Goal

Posted in: Perspectives: Friday, 30 April 2010

Towards a Common Goal

Quarrying and Mining, April 2010

Speculation about what may be included or not in the Government’s upcoming report on Schedule 4 and minerals on conservation land, is not helpful, says Richard Michael, the chief executive of Straterra.

Scaremongering of the type that has occurred is not helpful to anyone – other perhaps, than groups who are attempting to inflame the situation and raise fears that may not be justified.

The natural resources industry certainly supports the review and the decision to carry it out also won public support. There is no point in jumping to conclusions, let’s wait and see what the report actually contains.

Readers of Q&M will be aware of the excellent work that has been carried out by the Aggregate & Quarry Association to develop national planning for how new and existing quarries will be consented in the future.

AQA followed the lead of the wine industry and worked with local and central government to draw up planning guidelines which are to be handed over to a planning committee guided by the Ministry for the Environment.

The AQA is to be congratulated on its foresight. The process it has pioneered will ensure that areas of land that are suitable for extracting aggregates will be identified on district plans. It would be a fantastic programme for the wider minerals industry and Straterra now aims to work towards replicating the process.

The AQA’s actions mean that if any development is put forward that would block or limit access for quarrying, councils and communities can make decisions based on the full knowledge that a potentially valuable resource is being lost to the area.

Without this scheme, there would be no legal means to bring this consideration into the planning process and that could have had severe implications for our country’s future.

New Zealand’s already high aggregate demand will escalate in the coming decades of infrastructure development. Auckland is a prime example of a city which has both a huge need for aggregates and a huge resource. But much of that has been put off limits by housing developments.

As AQA president James Boyce has pointed out, the Auckland area has only about 12 years of supply remaining from consented aggregate quarries.

Clearly the most cost effective way to source aggregate is locally. The carbon footprint of transporting aggregate long distances – sometimes over 100km to its destination – is considerable.

It’s well known in the industry that the cost of aggregates can double for every 30kms the material is transported. But this won’t be so well known to the public, who will bear significant costs if locally-accessed aggregates are not available.

The steps the AQA have taken will ensure that such issues are now raised in public conversations about planning applications. We are certainly not saying that development should not happen in such areas but that all the factors should be known.

Hopefully the pioneering work already carried out by AQA and the wine industry will mean that extending this process to the wider industry can be a fairly smooth process.

It is vital that our natural assets are recognised and planned efficiently for. Such a scheme would provide the wider industry with a blueprint to work toward to try to ensure the minerals issue is considered at a district planning level.

Many different development options can affect access. A process of this type would bring a more balanced approach to enable all New Zealanders to obtain the maximum benefits from our mineral wealth – rather than those benefits not being realised because of very localised issues.

Minerals are a national resource and it is right that we should have a local conversation and full consultation with local communities but based on local and national requirements.

Finally, Straterra has taken a major step in its journey of formation with the opening of our new headquarters in the heart of Wellington’s Central Business District.

The process started three years ago, when a group of like minded industry people agreed we needed a more broadly based industry body, This resulted in Straterra being launched in 2008 and I was appointed in April 2009.

It was always envisaged that the Straterra offices would become a hub for the industry and our new premises at 93 The Terrace are the ideal location, with ample facilities, office space and meeting rooms for industry members to make use of in the capital.

The opportunity is also available for industry participants to sub-let office space within the building. This will not only create a ‘natural resources industry central’ for New Zealand but also enhance our collective voice and encourage understanding of the industry among government and the wider public.