Court of Appeal upholds High Court decision - TTR’s seabed mining application sent back to the EPA

The Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal by Trans-Tasman Resources Limited (TTR) against the decision of the High Court setting aside the marine consents and marine discharge consents granted to TTR by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). 

In 2017, the EPA granted TTR permission to mine iron-sand from the South Taranaki seabed.  Several groups appealed that decision to the High Court which quashed the consents.  TTR then appealed to the Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal decision, released on Friday 3 April 2020, means that TTR now has to take its application back to the EPA if it wants to pursue its bid to mine iron-sand.

The groups opposed to TTR’s application welcomed the judgment which accepted that the consents should not have been granted given there was significant uncertainty about the effects of the proposed mining on the environment. 

Dawson & Associates has represented a group of fisheries submitters throughout this process.