| Storm
Bay Mussel Farm Appeal
Port
Fitzroy Great Barrier Island
June
2004
Dear Friends of Port FitzRoy,
The appeal before the Environment Court by the Freda Pene Rewhiti
Whanau Trust to overturn the Auckland Regional Council decision
to refuse a resource Consent for a Mussel Farm in Stony (Storm)
Bay Port FitzRoy is due to be heard the week of the 19th to 23rd
July 2004. The judge hearing the case will be Lauri Newhook.
A heartfelt thankyou to all those who have contributed to the cause,
which has enabled us to have the planning evidence prepared. This
has now been lodged along with that of the Auckland Yachting and
Boating Assoc., Maritime Safety Authority, the Auckland Regional
Council as respondent and ourselves. Kevin O'Sullivan and I will
be appearing as expert witnesses and have lodged evidence accordingly.
This issue is really about the rights of the public to utilise a
traditional sheltered anchorage over the rights of a commercial
operation to exclude the public for financial gain. However the
Environment Court will principally be dealing with the environmental,
safety, planning and Treaty issues.
Let us hope that common sense prevails and we can preserve this
important safe anchorage for future generations of the boating public.
Now that Kaikoura Island is in Government ownership and will likely
become an Outward Bound and Environmental Education Centre for the
youth of the region this bay is the only reasonable place on the
island to have a marine activity base. To clutter up most of the
bay with a mussel farm doesn't bear thinking about.
Auckland Regional Council have produced an aerial photo of the bay
to which they have superimposed the footprint of the mussel farm
to scale. We have enlarged this and put it on a webpage.
If you click on www.thebarrier.co.nz/musselfarms.pdf
you will see the effect this has on the bay.
Tony Bouzaid
www.glenfern.org.nz
Read the last Storm Bay
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