Sneakin' 'em through

How Tag oil drills the public (hat-tip Charlie)

“The RMA allows Councils to defer considering a consent application until all consents required for the proposal are received. It is best practice for all required consents for an activity to be identified from the outset, applied for contemporaneously and considered together. This ensures that all environmental effects can be taken into account in deciding whether consents should be granted.

“If the applicants are allowed to apply for resource consents incrementally this can mean that later consents are granted based on the baseline created by the earlier consent. This is a piecemeal approach.

“By splitting things up like this, the applicants are effectively gaming the system to make it easier for them to get consent for exploration drilling.

“We are concerned that this practice seems be spreading with oil exploration companies adopting the same approach elsewhere in the country."

Tom Belford alerts Councillors and ratepayers of what to watch out for when drillers come t0 your town.