"the news" gives a clear summation

From the Tuesday front page


Mine Appeal date Closer

By Keira Stephenson
Bathurst Resources is hopeful the Environment
Court hearing for its Denniston Coal Mine will take
place before the end of the year.
However, an appellant says this may just be
wishful thinking on Bathurst’s part.
All parties at a pre-hearing conference yesterday
were told that the Environment Court would
hear a declaration on climate change in March.
The declaration hearing will decide whether evidence
on climate change will be admissible at the
actual substantive evidence hearing.
Bathurst says coal’s impact on global warming
should not be taken into account in a Resource
Management Act hearing, while appellants West
Coast Environment Network (West Coast ENT)
and Forest and Bird say it’s an entirely appropriate
place to hear it.
Before the appeal, Bathurst won the right to mine
around 200ha of public conservation land on the
Denniston Plateau at a council resource consent
hearing in August.
Bathurst managing director Hamish Bohannan
said he was pleased with the outcomes of yesterday’s
pre-hearing as the timing for a resolution to
the appeal remained on track.
He hoped the actual hearing would take place in
the last quarter of the year.
“The Environment Court is clearly giving the
matter an appropriate level of urgency, which is
very encouraging,” he said.
However, West Coast ENT chairwoman Lynley
Hargreaves said a date had yet to be set for the
hearing and it was still open ended.
Bathurst had its own reasons for hoping it
would be in the September quarter, said Ms Hargreaves.
Either party could appeal the declaration hearing
decision on climate change before the main
hearing got underway, which might hold up proceedings,
she said.
She didn’t know if the climate change evidence
would be allowed, but ethically speaking there was
no way it could be left out.
Forest and Bird Top of the South fi eld offi cer
Debs Martin said an appeal on the climate change
declaration decision would depend on the judge
allowing it and the appellant deciding if it was
worth holding up the main hearing for.
The appeal was originally to be heard by the
same judge hearing the Mokihinui Dam appeal in
September, said Ms Martin.
The fact that it had been transferred to Judge
Lauri Newhook recognised the previous judge
couldn’t deal with both hearings at the same time.
It appeared to show that the court was hoping to
get the Denniston appeal underway in an appropriate
timeframe.
If the Denniston hearing also went ahead in
September, Forest and Bird would be facing two
major substantive hearings at the same time.
A lot of the same expert witnesses might be
required for both hearings on both sides, she
said.
In a press release, Mr Bohannan said an additional
pre-hearing conference would be held after
the declaration hearing in March when it was likely
the court would set a date for the actual hearing.