This site is hosted by the Whangarei Heads Citizens Association on behalf of all concerned citizens and friends of Bream Bay.
Thank you to everyone that joined our beach protest on Sunday 26 January
Read all about it in the “In the news” column
What can you do to help?
Sign the petition. Add your name to the growing list of concerned people who want this proposal stopped. https://our.actionstation.org.nz/p/bbnosandmining
Make a donation TODAY to support NO Sand Mining Bream Bay campaign.
Share the information below and your concerns with friends, family, neighbours and ask them to sign the petition against the Bream Bay sand mining.
Email politicians and councillors from the list below to raise your concerns and force them to address any unanswered questions. Unanswered questions so far include;
- what alternatives to marine sand mining have been explored?
- what is the real extent of environmental damage caused by sand mining?
- what are the economic benefits for Northland?
- the Government Advisory Group rated this project a Low Priority. Yet it was selected to be one of the 149 successful projects. Why?
Members of Parliament
- Shane Reti MP for Whangarei s.reti@ministers.govt.nz
- Grant McCallum MP for Northland Grant.McCallum@parliament.govt.nz
- Shane Jones NZ First list MP , Minister for Regional Development, Fisheries, Resources (a strong supporter of the sand mining fast track application) s.jones@ministers.govt.nz
- Huhana Lyndon Green list MP Huhana.Lyndon@parliament.govt.nz
- Mariameno Kapa-Kingi MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Te Pāti Māori Mariameno.Kapa-Kingi@parliament.govt.nz
- Willow-Jean Prime Labour list MP Willow-Jean.Prime@parliament.govt.nz
- Mark Cameron ACT list MP Mark.Cameron@parliament.govt.nz
Elected Members of Northland Regional Council – NRC will issue the permit to allow the sand mining to go ahead
- Chair Geoff Crawford geoff.crawford@nrc.govt.nz
- Councillor Amy Macdonald (Coastal Central General) amym@nrc.govt.nz
- Councillor Rick Stolwerk (Coastal South General) ricks@nrc.govt.nz
Elected Members of the Whangarei District Council
What we know…
- Auckland Company McCallum Brothers Ltd (MBL) has applied through the Fast Track Bill to well over 8,000,000 m3 of sand from Bream Bay over the next 35 years. Specifically MBL propose to take 150,000 m3 pa for the first 3 years and 250,000 m3 pa for following 32 years
- MBL will dredge a 17 km2 area of seabed as close as 4.2 km from the shore
- MBL will use a trailing suction dredge from the William Fraser, a 68m purpose built vessel which can carry 900 m3 of sand per load
- MBL have likened its dredging operations to “ a vacuum cleaner operating on the seafloor”
- The sand mining would occur at night, up to 5 times a week
- MBL needs a resource consent (coastal permit) under the Resource Management Act. The Fast Track Legislation will make this easier to obtain.
- Fast Track Legislation was passed by the Government on 17 December 2024
- A Government Advisory Group has selected 149 projects, from 384 submissions, to be given fast track status. The Bream Bay Sand Extraction Project was given a low priority by the Advisory Group and yet it was still selected
- MBL is likely to submit its full proposal early in 2025. Their application will be decided upon by a panel. The panelists will not be local. There is no requirement to hold a hearing. If the Panel does hold a hearing, only the applicant, experts invited to commission a report by the Panel, and persons invited to comment, may be heard.
- This process does not allow for any community consultation or opposition
- Appeals on fast track are only possible on points of law, and only by the applicants, commentors, the Attorney General and any person with an interest greater than the general public. The Bill does not limit or affect any right of judicial review.
- MBL mined sand off Pakiri Beach since 2005 on behalf of Kaipara Ltd
- MBL bought the consent off Kaipara Ltd in 2021 after Kaipara scaled back its sea dredging operations in favour of building its manufactured sand capability
- In November 2024 MBL had its consent declined and was handed a record $500,000 fine by the Environment Court after losing its battle to take 2,000,000 m3 of sand from Pakiri Beach seabed
- The Environment Court found evidence provided by the company about the ecological effects of the mining had been “patchy”, “inconclusive” and even “incorrect” in the past. It also found mana whenua would be adversely affected
- An investigation by a concerned local, documented evidence that MBL had breached conditions of its resource consent by creating massive trenches nearly 3m deep, 15m wide and 3 kms long in the seabed
- MBL has appealed the decision to the High Court and continues to dredge in Pakiri Beach in the interim but has turned its attention to Bream Bay
- MBL claim it has a ‘clean slate’ in compliance and/or enforcement actions; “MBL has no recorded history of any prosecution or other enforcement action against the company or its principals”.
- Factcheck: MBL has had two of three consents for sand mining turned down by the Auckland Council. It also lost the appeal of a consent rejection in the Environment Court
- MBL states it has many decades of experience in the operation of sand extraction. This resource consent application is therefore for an activity where both the operational and potential environmental effects are well known and documented.”
- Factcheck: The Environment Court found evidence provided by the company about the ecological effects of the mining had been “patchy”, “inconclusive” and even “incorrect” in the past. MBL accepted evidence in court that it had breached conditions of its resource consent by creating massive trenches nearly 3m deep, 15m wide and 3 kms long in the seabed
- MBL says the sand from Bream Bay is needed as “Auckland’s sand market is showing signs of supply pressures.”
- Factcheck: There is no evidence of this. Kaipara Lt has invested $12m into a plant to produce 300,000 tonnes per annum of concrete sand. Kayasand has also built a multi-milliondollar demo pilot plant at Ward Quarry and has started supplying engineered sand into the Auckland market. Mining companies globally are transitioning out of sand and river dredging and into manufactured and land-based sand practices
- “The proposal will not adversely impact the indigenous biological diversity of Bream Bay.” “There will be no effect to seafloor life such as sponges, corals, sea stars, sea urchins, worms, crabs would be ‘negligible’ and changes would be “minor and temporary in nature.” “There would be no effect on fish life, commercial or recreational fishing including pipi, tuatua, mussels, cockles and scallops.”
- Factcheck: Expert marine divers said the seafloor at Pakiri resembled a ‘bombsite’ after MBL dredging. The Department of Conservations’ response to the proposal states “Dredging does not come without a cost for marine species and any incident could have huge impact on Bream Head, Bream Bay and the islands as well as Whangārei Harbour Marine Reserve. It impacts marine mammals (noise, collision, degraded ecosystems), degrades habitats, threatens organisms associated with the seabed; disturbs sediments (which accumulate toxins and pollutants such as hydrocarbons and heavy metals) which release contaminants into the water columns and other changes in sediment structures”
The following is a copy of an article that was published in the December/January issue of the Whangarei Heads Newsletter. It presents most of the facts that are of concern and raises many issues that need to be widely shared.
I want to draw attention to the threat of major long-term harm to our local marine environment. The Bream Bay Sand Extraction Project is one of 11 selected for fast tracking in Northland under new legislation which is likely to become law before Christmas. The Northland Fast Track Projects have now been selected by an Advisory Group who prioritised the total of 384 project submissions received. The Government Advisory Group gave The Bream Bay Sand Extraction Project a Low Priority by sector. This was the lowest ranking! Yet it was selected to be one of the 149 successful projects.
A selection of Expert Panels with normally four members will be organised to consider and make the final decisions on the approvals sought. There will be limited public participation or consultation on the projects. This is extremely concerning because it means that the people of Whangarei will have minimal input in the decision-making process that directly affects them.
There is currently limited information publicly released. If successful McCallum Brothers Limited will have the right to extract up to 250,000 cubic metres, annually for 35 years which equates to almost 9 million cubic metres. Trailers you hire for home use hold up to ½ a cubic metre so visualise 18 million trailer loads of sand extracted from Bream Bay.
A large rectangular area off the shore of Bream Bay, approximately between the Waipu and Ruakaka river mouths.
McCallum Brothers had consents for 3 areas all in relatively shallow water around Pakiri, which have been either surrendered or declined. They have appealed the Environment Court’s decision to the High Court. During this time sand mining has been allowed to continue on a temporary basis.
The Court said evidence about the ecological effects of the mining provided by the company had been “patchy”, “inconclusive” and even “incorrect” in the past. It also found the effect on mana whenua could not be mitigated.
The company also applied for a Pakiri consent through the Fast-Track legislation, which could allow projects rejected by courts to proceed but it did not make the final list of 149 projects selected by Cabinet. It may still be selected in the future.
At the same time, they decided to also try sand mining somewhere else where they probably hoped for weaker opposition. Thus the move north out of Auckland Council jurisdiction into the Whangarei District, with the Bream Bay application..
McCallum Brothers had consents for 3 areas all in relatively shallow water around Pakiri, which have been either surrendered or declined. They have appealed the Environment Court’s decision to the High Court. During this time sand mining has been allowed to continue on a temporary basis.
The Court said evidence about the ecological effects of the mining provided by the company had been “patchy”, “inconclusive” and even “incorrect” in the past. It also found the effect on mana whenua could not be mitigated.
The company also applied for a Pakiri consent through the Fast-Track legislation, which could allow projects rejected by courts to proceed but it did not make the final list of 149 projects selected by Cabinet. It may still be selected in the future.
At the same time, they decided to also try sand mining somewhere else where they probably hoped for weaker opposition. Thus the move north out of Auckland Council jurisdiction into the Whangarei District, with the Bream Bay application..
The sand will be shipped to Auckland to replenish their beaches or to be used to make concrete primarily for Auckland construction projects. Therefore, there appears to be negligible economic benefit to Whangarei.
Natalie Jessup, general manager of Tāngaro Tuia te Ora-Endangered Species Foundation, said the potential fast-tracking of sand mining was deeply disappointing. “This is a heart-breaking blow for Aotearoa’s coastline. Bream Bay, like Mangawhai and Pākiri, is home to some of our most vulnerable species, including the critically endangered tara iti (New Zealand fairy tern). Approving sand mining here is not only environmentally destructive but a betrayal of the communities who have fought to protect these areas for decades.”
She is also concerned about how the sand extraction could impact the sensitive ecosystem. “Sand mining completely destroys the seafloor. They hoover up all the sand, which means that everything living on the seafloor gets destroyed: it damages scallop beds and fish no longer have food sources. “It destroys fishing and also higher up the food chain, it affects the whole ecosystem for whales and seabirds too.”
Research shows that it also causes underwater noise pollution and sedimentation affects water quality. In 2019 and 2020 Friends of Pākiri Beach commissioned two scans of the seabed. They showed huge trenches, several kilometres long and 20m wide gouged in the seabed from the mining.
Near shore sand mining can contribute to erosion of sand dunes, which can worsen the effects of climate change. We’re facing more flooding and erosion due to climate change, so sand mining is the last thing we should be doing. “For east coast beaches, [sand erosion] figures generally vary between the potential for 20 metres to 50 metres erosion with one metre sea level rise and we’re expecting one or two metres as a minimum. So, the last thing you want to be doing is sucking sand out of it.” Jim Dahm, Coastal Scientist
Jessup said sand was not a critical mineral, because it was neither rare nor facing supply shortages, so should not be included in the fast-track list.
Jessup agrees that while sand is needed for construction, there are viable alternative sources, including extraction from the Kaipara Harbour where sand is being naturally replenished.
Yes, Kaipara Limited’s Brookby Quarry in East Auckland aims to produce 300,000 tonnes of sand a year. Depending on demand, it has plans for a second stage. Together, that would produce up to 45% of the sand needed for the Auckland market. Innovative crushing and air screening technology is at the heart of Kayasand engineering plants. Originally developed because of a ban on dredging in Japan, it provides a better way to obtain sand for use in concrete. Concrete in a recent trial proved to be 24% stronger and used 10% less cement.
They have a right to be furious. They have been making sacrifices with the acceptance of the closing of shellfish banks and scallop areas and are supportive of our marine reserves. To literally suck the life from such a treasured local inshore fishing area should be strongly opposed. It is a huge insult to all fishers in Northland and denies their basic right to have their views considered in a democratic way.
Share this information and your concerns with friends, family, neighbours and sign the petition against the Bream Bay sand mining:
www.endangeredspecies.org.nz/sign-petition-stop-sandmining-bream-bay
Email Shane Reti MP for Whangarei Shane.reti@parliament.govt.nz
Tony Morgan (local resident)