The decision to leave the Rena shipwreck on the Astrolabe reef was a tough call to make, according to the Green Party.

The decision was made yesterday to leave the wreck on the Astrolabe reef off the coast of Tauranga where it ran aground in 2011.

151 submissions were heard during the 20-day hearing process.

Green Party environment spokesperson Eugenie Sage said the end result has pros and cons.

"Removing it would have caused more damage to the reef, but leaving it there also offends against Maori values."

Ms Sage said it was robust process and was a thorough and considered decision.

She said though that lessons can and should be learnt from the Rena shipwreck disaster, and one of those lessons is to stop deep sea oil drilling.

"This spill was only a couple of hundred cubic metres of oil and a big spill form oil exploration would be much worse."

Eugenie Sage said more than 1500 sea birds died as a result of the spill and a major cost to the community.