Latest news with #Hokitika
RNZ News
18-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Independent commissioners approve sand mine for 16 years near Hokitika
The West Coast Regional Council will now focus on compliance and monitoring of the resource consent conditions. Photo: Joppi/ 123rf Consent has been granted for a new sand mine near Hokitika. An independent panel of commissioners unanimously approved consent for Westland Mineral Sands' mineral sand ore extraction at the Mananui mine for 16 years. The site is about eight kilometres from Hokitika and will cover 112 hectares. The West Coast Regional Council said the panel's decision concluded the formal consent application process on behalf of the company, and the council would now focus on compliance and monitoring of the resource consent conditions. The panel was selected by the regional council and Westland District Council. In 2023, Gene Wilson, who lives across the road from the site, told RNZ he was concerned about noise, dust, light pollution, water quality and truck movements. Other neighbours said they did not oppose mining, but had concerns about its potential impact and the loss of tranquillity in the small, peaceful town. Westland Mineral Sands also has a sandmine at Cape Foulwind, near Westport. A petition was launched against the Cape Foulwind mine in 2021, while others appealed the resource consent conditions at the Environment Court. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
29-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
PGG told to pay $780,000 for farm sale misrepresentation by Supreme Court
Rural realtor PGG Wrightson Real Estate has been ordered to pay more than $780,000 in damages and other costs for the overpayment of a $2.8m farm sale in 2010. File picture. Photo: Adam Simpson PGG Wrightson Real Estate has been found liable for negligence for "carelessly" misrepresenting details about a West Coast dairy farm it sold 15 years ago, the Supreme Court of New Zealand has found. The rural realtor was ordered to pay more than $780,000 in damages and other costs on Thursday, for the overpayment of the $2.8 million farm sale in 2010. Court documents showed the sale featured incorrect descriptions about the herd size and milk production at the 105 hectare site near Hokitika. It was found the farm had never averaged the 103,000 kilograms of milk solids over three seasons as advertised, which was later calculated to be more like over 98,000 kilograms of milk solids. Despite the new owners borrowing more from the bank and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on fertiliser and re-grassing, production never reached these levels. At their highest the new owners reached over 88,500 kilograms of milk solids and just under 60,600 at its lowest. Amid increasing debt and falling returns, the new owners were forced to sell the financially-unviable farm in 2020, a decade after the purchase. Documents showed they said they would have never bought the farm if they knew its true performance. The court has dismissed PGG's cross-appeal. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
04-06-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Canterbury camp operator faces charges after boy badly burned
Waipara Adventure Centre. Photo: Google Maps via RNZ The trust behind a North Canterbury adventure camp where a nine-year-old Hokitika boy was badly burned is facing a criminal charge. A Christchurch District Court appearance by Sure and Stedfast Development Trust, which ran the Waipara Adventure Centre near Amberley, was adjourned until October on Wednesday morning. The Hokitika Primary School student was flown to Christchurch Hospital, before being transferred to Middlemore Hospital's burns unit, where he was placed in a medically-induced coma in 2023. He required dozens of surgeries, only returning to school part-time six months after his injury. The trust was facing a charge of exposing an individual to a risk of harm or illness, which was believed to involve a small camp stove malfunctioning. The charge, laid by WorkSafe under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, carried a maximum fine not exceeding $1.5 million dollars. A Go Fund Me was set up to support the boy and his family raised over $26,000. WorkSafe inspectorate head Rob Pope said he recognised the bravery of the boy, who had endured multiple surgeries and continued to live with the effects of his burns. "Businesses and organisations must manage their risks, and when they do not we will hold them to account," he said.
Otago Daily Times
04-06-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Boy badly burned: Waipara camp operator facing charges
Waipara Adventure Centre. Photo: Google Maps via RNZ The trust behind a North Canterbury adventure camp where a nine-year-old Hokitika boy was badly burned is facing a criminal charge. A Christchurch District Court appearance by Sure and Stedfast Development Trust, which ran the Waipara Adventure Centre near Amberley, was adjourned until October on Wednesday morning. The Hokitika Primary School student was flown to Christchurch Hospital, before being transferred to Middlemore Hospital's burns unit, where he was placed in a medically-induced coma in 2023. He required dozens of surgeries, only returning to school part-time six months after his injury. The trust was facing a charge of exposing an individual to a risk of harm or illness, which was believed to involve a small camp stove malfunctioning. The charge, laid by WorkSafe under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, carried a maximum fine not exceeding $1.5 million dollars. A Go Fund Me was set up to support the boy and his family raised over $26,000. WorkSafe inspectorate head Rob Pope said he recognised the bravery of the boy, who had endured multiple surgeries and continued to live with the effects of his burns. "Businesses and organisations must manage their risks, and when they do not we will hold them to account," he said.
NZ Herald
03-06-2025
- General
- NZ Herald
North Canterbury adventure camp operator charged after boy, 9, severely burned on school trip
A trust which operates a North Canterbury adventure camp where a 9-year-old Hokitika boy was badly burned on a school trip is facing a criminal charge. The boy suffered severe burns at the Waipara Adventure Centre near Amberley in October 2023. Two other
