Commissioners involved in a hearing at Millers Flat for the proposed Hawkeswood Mining project were not impressed yesterday about the company carrying out earthworks without any consents.

Led by Louise Taylor, Rosalind Day-Cleavin and Craig Welsh, the panel questioned the lawyer Jeremy Brabant about the earthworks, on day one of the hearing.

Jeremy replied that the ‘why’ was irrelevant in the current context of the application and said the panel’s decision-making process shouldn’t be influenced by what had happened in the past.

The panel further prompted the lawyer about their concerns with the company’s commitment to rehabilitating the site.

“It wasn’t a good start to the process . . . hopefully the site looks a lot better than it does now,” Louise said.

Hawkeswood Mining Ltd expects to create up to 30 jobs and inject an estimated $5 to $7 million annually into the local community with its gold mine on the banks of the Clutha Mata-Au River.

Aiming to be operational by August 1, the project received more than 470 submissions, the majority of which were in support, but both the Otago Regional Council (ORC) and Central Otago District Council (CODC) consultant planners recommended it be declined.

Jeremy said the company aimed to return the land to pastoral use after it had finished, “and was certainly not darting around its responsibilities.”

He said the company was also very open about ongoing consultation with affected parties such as iwi, and rehabilitation work would be ongoing throughout the 10-year project.

Hawkeswood Mining first applied for a discretionary consent in 2022, for a two-hectare mine over a period of five years.

This was - by request of the applicant - publicly notified by the ORC and CODC in 2023.

Hawkeswood Mining then paused the application to make amendments - extending the proposed mine to cover approximately 10 hectares for a period of 10 years.

The councils determined a new application needed to be made due to the significant increase in the intensity and scale of the activity.

A CODC document show the unconsented work had exceeded the district plan allowance by 2118m3 and the company admitted it was an oversight by its survey team.

Hawkeswood Mining is seeking consent to use the land as well as to take water, and discharge water to land only, with no risk of contaminants being discharged to water.