Digging ban off Taranaki Coast continues

Digging off the Taranaki coast is still banned, last week a mining company going by the name Trans Tasman resources went to the court to try and have some adjustments to the new rule set in place by the government. The company wanted to mine millions of tonnes of ironsands off the coast of Taranaki. However the Court of Appeal has dismissed the attempt by Trans-Tasman Resources to overturn a 2018 High Court decision.Forest and Bird chief executive Kevin Hauge said the decision was important as New Zealand considered how to rebuild its economy after the shock of the Covid-19 virus.The judge said that the “kaitiakitanga relationship between tangata whenua and the marine environment and its resources is a relevant existing interest”.