DRAT Press Release

Posted by Collette Spalding DRAT Spokesperson on 12/09/2011

Not all concerned residents were able to fit into the Waihi Friendship Hall on Friday night for the first in a series of DRAT meetings that have been arranged to find acceptable solutions for those currently impacted by the mines activities in Waihi.

"It is very hard to know just how many people will be effected said DRAT spokesperson Collette Saplding as council have identified from 30 - 47 homes, NWG have visited a further 200 homes and apparently NWGs new information centre has also had around 200 enquiries from residents wanting to know more about new proposals to mine beneath residential property in the east of Waihi and possibly beneath and beyond the existing open cast mine site."

"I think we can safely say that for every job directly created by the mining industry in Waihi one complete household is disadvantaged to some degree" she said". Not all home owners living within effected areas want to pack up and leave today but the meeting was unanimous that a policy providing access to this option is required in order for the community to give its blessing to the proposed mine expansions.

NWG were quick to admit they are driven by opportunities to maximise profits and the desire to maintain its workforce which has now apparently grown to 350 direct employees and 350 indirectly employed".

DRAT dispute these numbers and the companies commitment to providing secure employment opportunities. NWG employ a handful of contractors so it is actually the contractors who are the employers not NWG. Many of the workers are placed on 6 mth contracts so cannot secure mortgages and cannot get debt repayment insurances as they are not technically in full time employment. Since DRAT started raising concerns we have had 4 mine managers and at least three different community liaison people. Mine employees come from as far as Auckland to work, many live outside the HDC district and locally decisions are actually made in Perth or Denver.

The 80 local people who attended the public meeting were offered no solutions by Newmont Gold to their concerns about the expansion of mining in Waihi says DRAT spokesperson Collette Spalding.

Ms Spalding who organised meeting on behalf of DRAT members so as residents could express their fears and hear from the company and politicians said "that the spokesperson for the mine was unable to clarify how NWG intended to address the loss of property values, the risks of vibration and other quality of life issues".

Residents at the meeting, which was facilitated by Green MP Catherine Delahunty due to the meetings strict time constraints (many wanted to get home for the RWC kickoff!!), expressed anger that there was no official representation from the Hauraki District Council and that the companies liaison team were not fully equipped to answer the wide range of issues the residents wanted answers to but appreciated the mines representative was new to his role so was unaware of many of the historical issues some residents had faced now over the last 20 years.