The boss of a container company causing a community uproar in Te Puna says they're “the solution not the problem”.
Protest signs of 'wrong business, wrong place - no container terminal' are dotted across the rural Western Bay of Plenty community.
Te Puna locals have been rallying against the development of the container depot since late 2020, as they say the culturally significant, flood-prone wetland is inappropriate for the business.
Community members also fear that container washing will have an environmental impact and biosecurity risk for nearby kiwifruit orchards.
However, the company director says there is "zero risk" and they are the "solution, not the problem".
Submissions recently opened on the development.
Te Puna Industrial Limited purchased 12ha of land at 297 Te Puna Station Road for $4.7 million in February 2021. The company is half-owned by shipping container company ContainerCo.
ContainerCo managing director Ken Harris says they plan to build “very low intensity, specialised businesses” on the site.
The 12ha site at 297 Te Puna Station Road was bought for $4.7m. Photo: John Borren/SunLive.
Plans include refrigeration engineering, workshop activities including container washing, and the company’s head office.
The development also has gardens, wetland ponds and public walkways.
Harris says the washing presents “zero risk at all” and the containers are inspected and cleared on the wharf first.
“Nothing we do represents any particular environmental risk whatsoever.”
Relocating these businesses away from the Port of Tauranga will free up space at the port, says Harris.
ContainerCo previously came under fire for the way it purchased the site.
The Overseas Investment Office issued the company a $30,000 administrative penalty after it breached the Overseas Investment Act.
Half of ContainerCo is owned by overseas investors, including China COSCO Shipping Corporation.
Documents released under the Official Information Act show a series of arrangements were agreed on, where the land would be purchased and held under several New Zealand-owned trusts and companies until ContainerCo obtained the necessary OIO consents.
The Overseas Investment Office issued a retrospective consent in October 2022.
Harris says COSCO Shipping is a "passive investor" and his company has 100 per cent control and the management rights.
The investment approval process was “quite a surprise” but after legal advice, they immediately stepped back from any control, he says.
“Everyone here acted correctly and ultimately because of the strategic importance of this to the New Zealand economy the consent was granted.”
Concerned locals formed the incorporated society, Priority Te Puna in March 2022.
Priority Te Puna member Alison Cowley said people have a right to have voice about the development. Photo: Alisha Evans/SunLive.
Priority Te Puna spokesperson Sarah Rice says the site is “a ridiculous place" for large-scale industrial activity.
“The low lying, culturally significant wetland environment is not an appropriate place for a ContainerCo operation.
“The effects are significant for the Te Puna community, mana whenua and the broader commuting community.”
Rice says the site is more often underwater than dry, and vulnerable to “extreme flooding”.
There are also concerns about increased traffic and local roads being “totally unsuitable for oversize and overweight vehicles”.
“This is supposed to be a rurally oriented business park not a home for one of New Zealand’s biggest container companies.”
The land is also culturally significant to mana whenua Pirirakau, who occupied the Pukewhanake Pā at the headland of the valley and the wetland was once an important food source for them.
In the 1940s, extensive earthworks occurred in the valley and the Minden Stream was diverted, draining the wetland that meets the Wairoa River, for pastoral land.
Rice says she's pleased the resource consents were publicly notified because the community has petitioned local councils for it in early 2021.
Harris says public notification seemed unnecessary because the consents were “relatively minor”, but the company did so because the residents “expressed a preference” for it.
An aerial view with the site outlined in red. Photo: Supplied.
The business park on Te Puna Station Road and is zoned industrial under the Western Bay of Plenty District Plan.
In 2005, the Environment Court ruled the land, in the Te Hakao Valley, could be zoned industrial, but with caveats around the type of activity permitted on the site.
This included industry, unless it required air discharge consent from the regional council, storage, building and construction wholesalers, retail with a maximum floor space of 100m2 for lunch bars or cafes, veterinary rooms, medical or scientific facilities and garden centres or nurseries.
The resource consent was applied for through the Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
Submissions are being sought until October 30.
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.
1 comment
Seems a crazy idea!
Posted on 09-10-2023 19:34 | By fair game
The roading infrastructure is barely coping now. Even with the development of the new expressway, the road is going to become a highway for large trucks 24 hours a day. So much for a peaceful rural area. No surprise it's owned by the Chinese either who certainly don't return funds to NZ where they are generated and belong. WRONG BUSINESS WRONG PLACE !!
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