Central Otago District Council has changed its nominee for the fast-track panel assessing Santana Minerals’ proposed Bendigo-Ophir gold mine, citing the scale, complexity and workload involved in the decision.

At Wednesday’s full council meeting, elected members agreed to put forward a new nominee - hearings commissioner Gary Rae - replacing former deputy mayor and Otago Regional Council councillor Neil Gillespie.

Chief executive Peter Kelly said fast-track panel convenor Jane Borthwick had advised the application would place heavy demands on panel members.

“We all know it’s going to be a really complex application to go through,” Peter said.

“There’s over 9000 pages.”

He said Jane had indicated the panel was likely to consist of six or seven members, and Otago Regional Council had also put forward its own nominee.

Jane would ultimately select one representative from the two councils - if any - and that person needed to be ready to “get stuck in”, he said.

Mayor Tamah Alley said she had spoken with Neil, who remained willing to serve if that was councillors’ preference.

She said the council’s original decision to nominate him reflected a desire to have someone on the panel who “understands Central Otago and our people”.

However, given the anticipated workload and Neil’s existing regional council responsibilities, it preferred to provide an alternative option, she said.

Tamah said Gary had already been approached and was available, describing him as someone familiar with Central Otago planning issues and community concerns through his work as an independent commissioner, despite not living in the district.

Gary has previously chaired or sat on hearings panels for the council, including the contentious Helios solar farm development near Ranfurly and the Plan Change 13 process relating to the River Terrace development in Cromwell.

At the meeting, staff also warned councillors about the intensity of the fast-track process, describing the timeframes as “brutal”, the volume of material as “intense”, and stressing an expectation that all panel members would “pull their weight”.

Councillors agreed to submit the new nominee, with the final decision on the panel’s composition resting with Jane as fast-track panel convenor.

The panel is expected to convene in February.

Read more: Agencies seek more time, challenge engagement on gold project

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