Canterbury Coal Mine wants to expand by 18 hectares

Friday, 8 May 2020

Canterbury Coal Mine, near Darfield, has been open cast for almost 20 years.

Plans to expand Canterbury Coal Mine by an additional 18 hectares are being considered, with the deadline for public submissions extended due to Covid-19.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) and Selwyn District Council received an application to increase the open cast coal mine, which is in the Malvern Hills, 20 kilometres west of Darfield.

The site is currently 52ha, of which 38ha are mined, and owner Bathurst Coal is seeking “retrospective land use consent for existing and future earthworks”.

Critics say the expansion will further endanger the kōwaro (Canterbury Mudfish), a claim Bathurst Coal refutes.

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Environment Canterbury (ECan) and Selwyn District Council will review the planned expansion.

Production at the site is currently 95,000 tonnes of coal per annum, which is sold for industrial and commercial use.

And according to a document published by Bathurst Resources in 2018, the coal is “primarily supplied to the Canterbury domestic market”, with 90 per cent of production sent to Fonterra in Darfield, Clandeboye at Washdyke and Synlait in Dunsandel.

Bathurst Resources chief executive Richard Tacon said rehabilitation is always ongoing so the actual area of the mine footprint does not necessarily increase over time.

“Expansion into the planned area will commence as soon as the consents are granted,” he said.

“The advantages of Canterbury Coal for our customers is its proximity to customers — 36km, compared to 700km, if coal were trucked from Bathurst’s Takitimu mine in Southland.”

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He said 60 trucks a week leave the site, delivering coal within Canterbury, but this could increase to 90 “if additional coal sales are contracted”.

“An increase in traffic flow will only happen if coal sales increase in the future. This can be mitigated by roading improvements, voluntary speed limits and dust suppression of the shingle road.”

The site has been mined continuously since 1872 and has been an open coal mine since around 2003.

Part of the planned expansion will include the removal of wetland vegetation and Michael Apathy, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion Ōtautahi, said the group “strongly opposes” the application on environmental and climate change grounds.

“Instead of more coal, we need a just and green Covid-19 recovery that supports workers and communities to move away from coal quickly, rather than permission for Bathurst to expand their destructive coal mining for potentially another 20 or 30 years,” he said.

“We encourage groups and individuals to make submissions to oppose Bathurst’s application on the grounds that it will further endanger the kōwaro and because the coal’s use for intensive dairying will further pollute our drinking water and rivers.”

Lan Pham, ECan councillor for Christchurch Central, said “the science is clear that we can not afford to burn even the existing fossil fuels without tipping the climate into uncharted territory”.

“It’s been encouraging that the Government, through the Environmental Select Committee, are noting this and suggesting changes which mandate local government in considering greenhouse gas emissions when deciding resource consents,” she said.

“However, like anything with our climate, time is of the essence. We need protections in place now that ensure any positive impact in reducing our emissions is not squandered by other climate-destructive activities being given the go-ahead because of out-dated legislation. We must act faster.”

The deadline for submissions is 5pm on May 18, and they can be made at ECan's website or by emailing hearings@ecan.govt.nz.