Proposed Plan Change 6: Extension of Martha Mineral Zone
Oceana Gold (New Zealand) Ltd has applied to the Hauraki District Council for a private plan change to rezone 47 properties (owned by, or under the control of Oceana Gold) to Martha Mineral Zone in the Hauraki District Plan. All 47 properties are in the vicinity of the existing Martha Pit and the change of zone would still require resource consent to expand the Martha Pit across all, or part of, those properties (as a discretionary activity).
At its meeting on 25 October 2023 the Hauraki District Council resolved to ‘accept’ Proposed Plan Change 6: Extension of Martha Mineral Zone for processing.
Public Notification and Submissions
Public notification of Proposed Plan Change 6 occurred on 15 February with the submission period running until 28 March 2024. In total 78 submissions were received.
A Summary of the Decisions Requested in submissions was prepared and further submissions were called for from 16 May 2024. By the close of the further submission period (on 30 May 2024) three further submissions had been received.
Council staff and experts are now working to assess what is being proposed by OceanaGold in light of the matters raised in submissions and further submissions. A Planning Report will be prepared in the coming months with the aim of holding a hearing in October 2024.
The chart below shows where we are currently at with processing the Proposed Plan Change 6 application.