Sustainable Tarras has not let the Christchurch Airport proposal go, and now the Central Otago group is also submitting against the Santana Minerals gold mine operation.

Local media and group spokesperson Suze Keith have both poked fun at Santana’s ‘scoping study’ which promotes plenty of employment opportunities for the local population.

“Good news, every person (children, adults, workers, retirees, like absolutely everyone) living in Cromwell can be assured they’ve got a job with Santana Minerals,” Sustainable Tarras’ Facebook page says.

Santana’s scoping study said ‘fly-in, fly-out’ of staff or major camps were not required when Cromwell had an 8000-strong labour pool, and there was main road access from State Highway 8.

Sustainable Tarras is made up of just eight members, with support from people all over New Zealand, who meet fortnightly to discuss their research and findings, and make Official Information Act requests for important information on relevant high-profile projects.

Suze said the group was particularly concerned with Santana’s ‘fast track’ proposal, which it believes will open up politicians to corruption, being the final decision maker.

Site map of the area for the proposed Rise and Shine gold mine near Bendigo. PHOTO: Supplied

Making a formal submission on the proposal, Suze said the group believed it was a form of authoritarianism not seen since the Muldoon era of the 1980s.

The group advised against any developer in New Zealand using the fast-track process, as it risked being seen as disrespecting social licence, and alienated the local community.

While Bendigo had been used to mine gold many years ago, it was not a landscape that recovered well from the industry activity, she said.

Then there was the toxic waste left behind and storage dams built to contain that risking contamination of waterways.

“Our infrastructure deficits do not lie in airports or gold mines. It’s not smart development,” she said.

The Australian-owned company said several weeks ago that it expected to make a net profit of $2 billion, but was still a year away from starting its Rise and Shine prospect.

The mine would operate for eight years as an open-cast mine and for four years underground, recovering 1.12 million ounces of gold.