The Stakes Are High On The Denniston Plateau
Bathurst Resources “Alternative Stakeholder Meeting”
8.15am-9.30am, Friday 14 November
Meet at Verve Café, 250 Lambton Quay, Wellington
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/579844212147375/
The beauty of the Denniston Plateau. Photo: Forest & Bird
Bathurst Resources wants to open New Zealand’s single biggest new coal project on the Denniston Plateau. But we’re the stakeholders in New Zealand’s future, It’s time to say “No!” to Bathurst’s mining plans and “Yes” to a real better future for New Zealanders.
Bathurst Resources is holding its AGM on Friday 14 November in Wellington – and we’re going to hold our own Alternative Stakeholder Meeting, to remind them what the real stakes are for the climate, for Denniston and for New Zealand.
Come and be a part of our simple street theatre style stakeholder meeting. No acting skills necessary, just meet on Friday at 8.15am at Verve Café, 250 Lambton Quay for a short briefing before our “meeting” commences.
We also need people to help hand out leaflets to passersby.
Help us ask what the real stakes are for future generations, our Pacific neighbours, health, unique ecosystems, and for all New Zealanders.
Here’s the plan:
- 8.15am: Meet at Verve Café, 250 Lambton Quay, for a briefing on the action
- 8.50am (approx): Alternative Stakeholder meeting begins – we’ll also be leafletting to passers-by
- 9.30am: End of the action
We’d like to know numbers able to attend, so please RSVP to coalactionnetwork@gmail.com as soon as possible. (An RSVP is extremely helpful for planning, though if you can’t RSVP, please do still come along on the day.)
More Information
Bathurst Resources Is Already Tottering – They Just Need A Push
Bathurst Resources is deep in a financial hole right now. After a protracted legal battle, the authorities granted the legal permissions they need to mine Denniston. But while that legal battle was going on, world coal prices dropped so far that it’s no longer economic for them to commercially mine coal for export there. All the same, they have been clearing off “overburden” – that is, plants and animals – from part of the area and have started small-scale mining for domestic markets while they wait for world coal prices to pick up.
Because they haven’t been able to get Denniston fully up and running, Bathurst are desperately stripping coal out of their other mines to fund their operations. That has led to health and safety problems and local environmental issues at these mines.
If Bathurst weathers the storm, they are going to ramp up the Denniston mine for export, and try to get permission to open a whole lot of new mines on the Plateau. But if we can stall them, we can stop both the present mine and future ones.
Bathurst’s investors were badly spooked by the 200-strong protest when their Wellington office was opened by John Key. It’s time to spook them some more.
What’s the Denniston Plateau?
The Denniston Plateau is a beautiful elevated plateau high above the West Coast of the South Island. It has a unique and highly biodiverse ecosystem full of rare plants and creatures. That ecosystem is now under severe threat.
Who Are Bathurst Resources?
Bathurst Resources are a formerlyAustralian coal mining company that moved to New Zealand a few years back. John Key spoke at the opening of their Wellington office. They operate other small mines in Southland, Canterbury and on the West Coast to fund their big project, the planned Escarpment Mine on the Denniston Plateau.
Why Should I Care?
If Bathurst Resources are able to go ahead with their plans, they could mine as much as 84 million tonnes of coal that would lead to 218 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, further pushing the atmosphere towards ever-more-dangerous tipping points. And it would also trash the entire Denniston Plateau other than small reserved areas.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks