Sams Creek Collective welcomes Labour’s announcement that if elected, it will join the Greens in calling for Sams Creek to be added into Kahurangi National Park to protect it forever from future mining proposals.
Labour conservation spokesperson Priyanca Radhakrishnan made the announcement on 23 September when Save Our Springs (SOS) presented its petition to Green MP Lan Pham, for her to pass it on to the incoming Conservation Minister post-election. The petition calls on the government to include Sams Creek and adjoining conservation land around the Tākaka River and Cobb Valley in Kahurangi National Park.
SOS has by now collected some 12,000 signatures for its petition, including from former Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Nelson MP and Conservation Minister Philip Woollaston. The petition is supported by Greenpeace.
Read more about the petition and Labour’s announcement on RNZ:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/environment/1598905/call-for-sams-creek-to-be-included-in-kahurangi-national-park
Upcoming general election: candidate survey
With the general election just weeks away now, SCC will soon be letting the voting public know what political parties think about mining Sams Creek, and their stance on protecting the area forever by adding it into Kahurangi National Park.
We are currently polling candidates for the West Coast-Tasman and Te Tai Tonga electorates, asking them two simple yes/no questions:
· Does your party oppose a gold mine at Sams Creek?
· Does your party commit to adding the Sams Creek area into Kahurangi National Park?
We will let you know how candidates answer on our website and via the GB Weekly. We are aware that independent of personal views about Sams Creek, this is an important issue for Mohua/Golden Bay residents, and many others around the country.
Meet Labour and Greens candidates this Saturday at the Village Green
Tomorrow, Saturday 3 October Green MP Lan Pham will be visiting the bay. After visiting the market from mid-morning, she will be at the Village Green from 1pm and will take the mic at 1.30pm. A fantastic speaker, Lan will highlight how the coalition government’s RMA reforms risk decimating environmental protections and embedding climate denialism into core planning and environmental laws.
We encourage locals to take this opportunity to hear from and talk with visiting candidates in advance of the coming election.
9 Oct is the cut-off date for NZP&M’s Sams Creek bidding round
After government body New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals declined Siren Gold’s mining permit application for Sams Creek back in May, it conducted a formal land status study before announcing in August that as largely expected, there would next be an open contest bidding process for the Sams Creek land.
9 October is the cut-off date for bidding submissions, with Siren Gold and others able to apply on their application’s merits. Sams Creek Collective expects that our community will find out what NZP&M’s decision on the land is after the general election. Then we will know whether we will find ourselves again standing up for our waterways, the pristine Springs and our environment against potential risks from toxic mining waste leaking into the Tākaka River at Upper Tākaka.
As soon as we know the outcome we will notify followers and the community.