Questionable Public Private Partnerships?

The mussel farming industry in Golden Bay has recently increased their efforts to control a larger area of Port Tarakohe. When there’s money to be made, there seems to be strong support from local and central government. With the Provincial Growth Fund looking to put money into the Port, it may raise questions for some. Who is driving the growth? Why do we need such growth? And who benefits most from it?

It seems TDC is right behind the growth agenda and keen to promote the need for growth. Should the council as a ‘neutral’ governing body really be pushing an industry’s growth? Furthermore, how can such an industry be truly sustainable when taking infrastructure resources, energy consumption for farming, processing and exporting into account?

These are all questions which get us to look deeper and bring further awareness of a growing local issue. And yes, there are reduced Co2 targets to add to the mix. With Climate Reality becoming more more accepted, how does supporting growth of an industry that relies heavily on using fossil fuels fit within the desired Co2 reduction framework? The Ministry for the Environment are claiming "New Zealand is on the path to a low emission, climate resilient future; the Government aims to reduce our emissions to net zero by 2050".

For residents, the increase of mussel boat noise is evident, especially as the boats tend to start operating around 3 or 4am. Is this not antisocial behaviour and why not operate during normal business hours? Of course the health and safety aspect has been brought forward, however, as other industries such as mining exemplify, keeping expensive machinery operating longer hours, means less down time and increased profits. 

For those wanting to complain about mussel boat noise, section 16(1) of the Resource Management Act states, "Every occupier of land (including any premises and any coastal marine area), and every person carrying out an activity in, on, or under a water body or the coastal marine area, shall adopt the best practicable option to ensure that the emission of noise from that land or water does not exceed a reasonable level". Who determines what is reasonable and who will enforce the law? 

As Port Tarakohe grows, it seems logical that noise and traffic will also, according to TDC, production outputs from the mussel farms is predicted to increase form around 4,000 tonne per annum to 47, 000 tonne annually. The increased area of farms is also set to grow another 2,000 hectares. In regards to the ‘proposed’ Port Tarakohe Development, TDC states “This project is of national significance to the aquaculture sector and is vitally important to realising the commercial aspirations of Maara Moana”.

From what can be gathered, Maara Moana is a private company based in Nelson. Who owns this organisation and why is TDC actively promoting their commercial aspirations? A quick Google search on Maara Moana uncovered little, however, the company looked to be registered at a residential address in Atawhai with two names as directors. Marc Ferris of 13 Werneth St Atawhai, Nelson and Che-huang Tung of 15 Lynton Rd Bucklands Beach, Auckland. 

TDC must be seen to be independent of commercial influence and in many instances, this may not be the case. Corporate sponsored governance is in my opinion not part of true democratic process. It is important to view business interests and their desire for growth with careful consideration. History shows us clearly that business booms can collapse due to mismanagement, greed, lack of regulation, environmental harms or natural disasters.  We do need to move forward very carefully and consider our impacts more so now, than ever before in our history. 

The wider environment is ours to enjoy and protect, so let’s hold governance to account and ensure their corporate sponsors aren't making decisions that will adversely affect us now or into the future.