• A fast-track application to extend two Port of Tauranga wharves has been halted by a judicial review after reference to one wharf was left off fast-track legislation.
• Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop said the Government was “frustrated by it” and would be amending the Fast-track Approvals Act.
• Ngāti Kuku, which sought a judicial review, said the ruling validated long-standing concerns about environmental and health impacts on Whareroa Marae and the surrounding community.

The Government will be “sorting” an issue that caused the Port of Tauranga’s expansion plan to be halted by a judicial review, Minister Chris Bishop says.

The fast-track consenting process for the Stella Passage Development project was put on hold after a High Court judge questioned whether a reference to extending the Mount Maunganui wharf was deliberately or accidentally left off legislation.

A Fast-Track Approvals Act 2024 (FTA) schedule only mentioned extending the Sulphur Point wharf.

The Port of Tauranga’s consent application, including both wharf extensions, was accepted by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) as compliant with the FTA.

Ngāti Kuku Hapū Trust sought a judicial review and a High Court judge overturned the EPA decision, halting the application’s progress to an expert panel that had been due to begin yesterday. .

The port urged the Government to act quickly and rectify the wording in the fast-track legislation to resolve the situation.

In a Friday statement, Minister for Infrastructure and Minister Responsible for Resource Management Act Reform Chris Bishop said the Government was aware of the issue “and frustrated by it”.

“We will shortly be amending the Fast-track Approvals Act to incorporate changes to facilitate greater supermarket competition.

“There will be other technical changes to the act, which will include sorting this issue out.”

Asked whether the Government would amend the schedule description to include the Mount Maunganui wharf, NZME was referred to Bishop’s original statement.

Port of Tauranga chief executive Leonard Sampson told Newstalk ZB on Friday the port was “enormously frustrated”.

“It’s been a very long and arduous process over the past six years.”

Sampson said the port was “absolutely specific and clear” in its application to include both wharves.

Port of Tauranga chief executive Leonard Sampson. Photo / Supplied

“It was even clear in the initial first mention of the schedule in October 2024 but somehow in the final drafting when the legislation was released in the schedule 2, the Mount Maunganui [wharf] was left out.”

Sampson said the port was speaking with Ministry for the Environment officials “and we’re certainly hopeful that there will be a process that this mistake can be rectified and amended”.

“We would certainly like it to happen as soon as possible.”

Sampson said the port was in an “extremely difficult position” and turning away container services.

“We simply cannot fit any new vessels on to our berth … ”

Sampson said it would be an 18-month to two-year construction period if consent was granted.

In a Friday statement, Ngāti Kuku welcomed the High Court’s decision.

Whareroa Marae, located beside the Mount Maunganui wharf, had “lived with the impacts of industry and port activity for generations”.

Ngāti Kuku Hapū spokesman Joel Ngātuere said the decision affirmed its concerns that Whareroa and Te Awanui [Tauranga harbour] were “already under immense strain”.

Joel Ngātuere at Whareroa Marae. Photo / George Novak

“This is not a technicality … it is the law working as it should - protecting communities from proposals that overreach and would add yet more pressure to a community already surrounded by industry.”

Ngātuere said the hapū acknowledged the port’s significance, but claimed its pursuit of economic prosperity had left the community enduring pollution, environmental degradation and “unrelenting” health impacts.

In response to Bishop’s statement, Ngātuere said Ngāti Kuku’s view was the Mount Maunganui wharf was “deliberately” removed from the project scope, noting Bishop told Parliament in December that the act’s schedule had been triple-checked.

Ngātuere said Ngāti Kuku had raised “critical” health concerns to local, regional and central government, and the Fast Track Select Committee about the project.

“Ngāti Kuku and Whareroa are people, parents, grandparents, children, and mokopuna; we are not speedbumps placed in the way to be driven over.

“True prosperity cannot come at the expense of our survival.”

Ngātuere said it remained open to working with the port and others “to find solutions”, but engagement must be “genuine and reflect the lived reality of Whareroa”.

Hurdle stopping ‘millions’ entering economy

Tauranga Business Association chief executive Matt Cowley told Newstalk ZB last week it was “amazing how a little insignificant sand dune has got in the way of millions of dollars coming into our economy”.

“Having to turn ships away because of capacity is ... not what we need for this economy.”

The port last week reported increased volume drove a 23% lift in its underlying net profit to $126 million for the June year.

Sampson said it had been a great year for trade and performance, with kiwifruit, dairy, meat exports being “really strong”.

“We’re cautiously optimistic for the next financial year. We’ve got pretty resilient exports in the current market ... and there’s certainly strong commodity prices in that respect.

“We’re hoping that we’ll see some improvement in the domestic economy as well.”

BusinessDesk reported analysts were upbeat about the result, hoping for a quick re-draft resolution for the Stella Passage Development project.

Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.