High Court says iwi input needed in Aotea dump consent

Aotea Great Barrier

Aotea resident Kelly Klink is welcoming a High Court decision blocking an increase in the amount of dredging waste from Auckland that can be dumped off Great Barrier.

Kelly Klink from Ngāti Rehua-Ngātiwai ki Aotea along with the Society for the Protection of Aotea Community and Ecology appealed an Environment Protection Agency consent allowing Coastal Resources Ltd to increase the amount of sediment it dumps from 50,000 cubic metres to 250,000 cubic metres annually for 35 years.

She says it has been a David and Goliath battle.

"For us it's just the love of our island, the love of our moana that has inspired our group to keep going," Ms Klink says.

Justice Helen Cull ordered the matter be referred back to EPA for reconsideration, taking into consideration the advice of its Māori Advisory Committee for "meaningful" engagement with local iwi authorities, but Ms Klink says she will also fight the company's remaining consent to dump 50,000 cubic meters of marine sludge every year.

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