
The Save Happy Valley Coalition (SHVC) is an environmental
activist
Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...
movement formed with the express purpose of preventing the
Cypress mine
The Cypress Mine is an extension to the open-cast coal mine the Stockton Mine's operational area, to the east into the Upper Waimangaroa Mining Permit area, on the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast of New Zealand. The mine commenced operati ...
, an open cast
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal i ...
mine on the
West Coast of
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, from proceeding.
The Coalition is a member of the environmental umbrella group
Environment and Conservation Organisations of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Individuals previously involved in the Save Happy Valley Coalition have continued their work in groups such as Coal Action Network Aotearoa and the Biodiversity Defence Society.
History
In 2004,
Solid Energy
Solid Energy was the largest coal mining company in New Zealand and is a state owned enterprise of the New Zealand Government.
The company was formed from the former government department State Coal Mines. It was then established as a state ow ...
, a New Zealand
State owned enterprise
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...
, applied for
resource consent
A resource consent is the authorisation given to certain activities or uses of natural and physical resources required under the New Zealand Resource Management Act (the "RMA"). Some activities may either be specifically authorised by the RMA or ...
s under the
Resource Management Act
The Resource Management Act (RMA) passed in 1991 in New Zealand is a significant, and at times, controversial Act of Parliament. The RMA promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. New Zea ...
for the
Cypress Mine
The Cypress Mine is an extension to the open-cast coal mine the Stockton Mine's operational area, to the east into the Upper Waimangaroa Mining Permit area, on the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast of New Zealand. The mine commenced operati ...
, a proposed open-cast coal mine. The consents were granted by the Buller District Council and the West Coast Regional Council. The Buller Conservation Group, Forest and Bird and Te Runanga O Ngati Waewae, and the Department of Conservation appealed the consent decision to the
Environment Court
The Environment Court of New Zealand () is a specialist court for plans, resource consents and Natural environment, environmental issues. It mainly deals with issues arising under the Resource Management Act 1991, Resource Management Act, meani ...
. The appeal was declined and the resource consents confirmed in a decision issued on 24 May 2005.
Jon Oosterman, a spokesperson for the campaign, vowed publicly that a
direct action
Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a governm ...
campaign would proceed to halt the mine. The
Forest and Bird
Forest & Bird (), also known by its formal name as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, is an environmental organisation specialising in the protection and conservation biology, conservation of New Zealand's indigenous F ...
appealed the decision in the
High Court, and in December 2005, the High Court dismissed the appeal.
The campaign involved organising public meetings to raise awareness, postcard and letter writing, lobbying, occupying the head office of the Solid Energy, scaling a four-story building and blockading Solid Energy's coal trains. Members occupied an area adjacent to the proposed mine site.
The SHVC ''Save Happy Valley! Worth more than its weight in coal!'' leaflet describes the area as:
Happy Valley, in the Upper Waimangaroa, near Westport, is a stunning, wild and untouched landscape – home to 30 great spotted kiwi/roa and the rare ''Powelliphanta patrickensis'' snail. Eleven other endangered birds and animals inhabit this enclave of diversity. Happy Valley is a colourful mosaic of magnificent red tussock wetlands, low forests of lush mountain beech and dense mats of intricate herbfield
Herbfields are plant communities dominated by herbaceous plants, especially forbs and grasses. They are found where climatic conditions do not allow large woody plants to grow, such as in subantarctic and alpine tundra environments. Herbfield is ...
plants scattered over striking sandstone rocks and bluffs.
The proposed mine site is located at
Happy Valley which is an unofficial locally used name for an area to the east of
Waimangaroa. It is 25 kilometres north east of
Westport. Reasons for the opposition to the mine include
acid mine drainage
Acid mine drainage, acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD), or acid rock drainage (ARD) is the outflow of acidic water from metal mines and coal mines.
Acid rock drainage occurs naturally within some environments as part of the rock weatherin ...
, loss of
kiwi
Kiwi most commonly refers to:
* Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand
* Kiwi (nickname), an informal name for New Zealanders
* Kiwifruit, an edible hairy fruit with many seeds
* Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of curren ...
, ''
Powelliphanta'' snail and
tussock habitat, and
climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
due to the burning of the extracted coal.
At the nearby
Mt Augustus,
Solid Energy
Solid Energy was the largest coal mining company in New Zealand and is a state owned enterprise of the New Zealand Government.
The company was formed from the former government department State Coal Mines. It was then established as a state ow ...
has pushed another 'absolutely protected' endemic snail species to the brink of extinction, and plan to mine its last remaining 4ha of habitat.
Forest and Bird
Forest & Bird (), also known by its formal name as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, is an environmental organisation specialising in the protection and conservation biology, conservation of New Zealand's indigenous F ...
obtained a declaration in December 2005 that
Solid Energy
Solid Energy was the largest coal mining company in New Zealand and is a state owned enterprise of the New Zealand Government.
The company was formed from the former government department State Coal Mines. It was then established as a state ow ...
needed permission from the Ministers of Energy and Conservation to translocate the snails before mining. This permission was granted in April 2006.
The Save Happy Valley Coalition released a press statement stating they were 'appalled' at the decision. A spokesperson stated that it was 'New Zealand's first state-sponsored species extinction' and that Chris Carter, the Minister of Conservation at that time, had bowed to pressure from Solid Energy and had ignored consistent advice from the Department of Conservation.
The Save Happy Valley Coalition Inc has since taken
Solid Energy
Solid Energy was the largest coal mining company in New Zealand and is a state owned enterprise of the New Zealand Government.
The company was formed from the former government department State Coal Mines. It was then established as a state ow ...
to the
High Court, and sought a Judicial Review of the Ministers' decision. In March 2007, the High Court did not uphold the review and it awarded costs of $5760 to Solid Energy.
In 2007 individuals involved with the Save Happy Valley Coalition were targeted in a series of contentious
anti-terror raids.
In October 2012 Solid Energy announced that work on the proposed mine at Happy Valley would be delayed.
On 12 June 2013, The Biodiversity Defence Society filed proceedings with the Environment Court, arguing that Solid Energy no longer holds resource consents for its proposed mine at Happy Valley, due to the expiry of the allocated time period of the consent. In 2014 much of the targeted area was bulldozed in order to make way for mining despite the low price of coal and low return on investment.
Surveillance
In April 2008, the Sunday Star Times reported that Gavin Clark of the Auckland private investigation company, Thompson and Clark Investigations (TCIL), had offered a Christchurch man, Rob Gilchrist, $500 a week to inform on the Save Happy Valley Campaign, for the benefit of the state-owned coal company Solid Energy.
In December of the same year Gilchrist was revealed to be a police informant and had infiltrated a number of activist organisations, including SHVC.
See also
*
Environment of New Zealand
The environment of New Zealand is characterised by an endemic flora and fauna which has evolved in near isolation from the rest of the world. The main islands of New Zealand span two biomes, Temperate climate, temperate and Subtropical climate ...
*
Mining in New Zealand
Mining in New Zealand began when the Māori people, Māori quarried rock such as argillite in times prior to European colonisation. Mining by Europeans began in the latter half of the 19th century.
New Zealand has abundant resources of coal, sil ...
References
{{Reflist
Environmental organisations based in New Zealand
Coal in New Zealand
Protests in New Zealand