More than 150 submissions on the future of the wreck of the former containership Rena have been received by the BOP Regional Council, with most of them now online.

The Rena owners and insurers are applying as the Astrolabe Community Trust for resource consent to leave the remainder of the wreck on the reef.

Items from the wreck on the Astrolabe Reef.

The container ship Rena struck the Astrolabe Reef at full speed on October 5, 2011, and subsequently broke apart spilling oil and cargo into Bay of Plenty waters.

The stern section, including the remnant of the accommodation section, now lies in water beyond the generally accepted 30 metre recreational dive limit.

'We hope to have all submissions received loaded onto www.renaresourceconsent.org.nz by Monday [today] ,” says Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder.

The Council's own submissions also lodged by close on Friday neither supports nor opposes the application, but focusses on the ‘housekeeping' conditions it requires for the reef.

If the Environment Court does allow the remainder of the wreck to remain on the reef, the regional council wants the resource consent period extended from 10 to 35 years and it wants a legally created management entity to oversee it and manage shoreline debris clearing.

The regional council submission also calls for consent conditions that minimise the risk to recreational divers as far as practicable. It wants a wreck access plan for divers as proposed by the applicant but want final authority over that plan.

'It is likely the applicants intend to seek a direct referral to the Environment Court and they have until Friday 15 August to request that referral,” says Doug.

'Our submission preserves our rights to be an active participant should the application be referred. That way we can also advocate on behalf of our residents, separately from our statutory responsibility to prepare our technical report advising the Court.”

The regional council wants to ensure that any consent conditions imposed are robust and that that the council carries out its statutory obligations under the Local Government Act 2002 and the Maritime Transport Act 1994, says Doug.

The ongoing debris field clean-up will take a considerable period of time, regardless of the outcome of and time taken by the consenting process.

'This work will continue as we move to the next stage of the resource consent process, which is the compilation and summary of the submissions received.

'If the Application becomes a matter for the Environment Court, then the role of our Council as regulatory authority is to be an adviser to that Court.”

Following any application received to refer to the Environment Court, the Council will have 15 days to consider the referral and a further 20 days to get its technical report finalised.

To read the full submissions click here.