The High Court's decision to bar recreational helicopter flights into Paparoa National Park is “one of the best things” to happen for conservation on the West Coast in 10 years.
Joanne Naish13:29, Jun 04 2021
ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF
Pike River families have launched legal action against the Government’s decision to seal the mine.
Pike River families have launched urgent legal action against the Government’s decision to seal the mine and have warned that they won’t get tired of fighting. Family members Bernie and Kath Monk, Steve and Carol Rose, and Cloe Nieper and her 12-year-old son Kalani travelled to Wellington to file a judicial review against the Government in the High Court on Friday. The Pike River Recovery Agency is planning to seal the mine this month and hand the site over to the Department of Conservation for inclusion in the Paparoa National Park by November. It has completed a $50 million re-entry of the mine’s access tunnel, or drift, with the aim of recovering evidence to help a police criminal investigation.
22 of the 29 Pike River families are supporting an application for a Judicial Review filed today challenging the decision made by Minister Andrew Little which rejects a plan to continue a short distance into the Pike River mine and instead begins a .
New Zealand government rejects experts’ plan to fully investigate Pike River mine disaster
On May 27, New Zealand’s Labour Party-led government formally rejected a Conceptual Development Plan submitted by international mining experts to investigate further the Pike River underground coal mine, to uncover the precise causes of the 2010 disaster that killed 29 workers.
The Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) produced the plan on behalf of 23 of the 29 families of the men who died at Pike River. The group includes former chief inspector of mines Tony Forster, UK-based mining engineer David Creedy and mines rescue expert Brian Robinson. They have all studied the disaster for years and provided advice to government agencies on how the mine can be safely explored to recover evidence and potentially human remains.
Paparoa National Park.
Photo: 123RF / Patrik Stedrak
Keith Morfett resigned as chairman last December after ongoing objections to his role from the board s Ngāi Tahu members.
The court has upheld the view of Forest & Bird and Federated Mountain Clubs that DOC cannot provide for recreational flights in its park management plan because they are prohibited in its West Coast conservation management strategy (CMS). This ruling affirms Paparoa as a quiet national park and it s one of the best things to happen for recreation and conservation on the Coast in 10 years, Morfett said.
DOC s management plan for Paparoa was rushed through in the wake of the Pike River mine disaster and ignored the CMS, which had a higher status, he said.