Central Otago District Council (CODC) is making preparations to hear Santana Minerals Fast Track Application for a Bendigo gold mine.

Central Otago mayor Tamah Alley and councillor Sarah Browne were nominated at its meeting this week, and approved to respond to the application.

Hearings panel expert Neil Gillespie has been appointed to the expert panel, given his significant experience.

CODC planning and infrastructure group manager Louise van der Voort told the council they had experts ready to go in the hearing, and the Otago Regional Council was likely to have its own panel as well.

She said the experts would be looking carefully at the rehabilitation of the land and conditions around compensation.

Due to the significance of scale, the council was likely to get some expertise, and there had already been discussions with the regional council about it.

In December, the new Fast Track Approvals Act (FTA) became law. The two projects listed in the FTA for Central Otago were the Bendigo-Ophir Gold project, and the Remarkables Ski Area Upgrade and Doolans Expansion. 

In her report, Louise said there had been some conversations with Matakanui Gold Limited/Santana Minerals Limited indicating an application would be received in the coming weeks for the Bendigo Ophir Gold project. 

Council was likely to engage specialists on landscape, ecology and acoustics. That would be reviewed once the application was received in late April.

It was noted in the report, that there was limited ability for the public and stakeholders to be involved in the applications. 

“There is a high level of interest in a number of these projects from the community and desire to understand council’s position on the proposals,’’ Louise said.

“While this level of interest is recognised, there is no legal ability for council to provide further opportunities for public participation beyond the specified steps in the Act.”

PHOTO: Supplied