On the streets of Raglan locals are expressing concerns that the Raglan district is headed for being New Zealand’s next mining centre. First the Government licensed exploration for seabed mining off the coast, then it announced it would be calling for bids for coal gas fracking at Ruapuke and now Chinese giant Sino Steel is looking at developing an opencast iron sand mine at Ruapuke.
At the meeting of the Raglan Community Board on May 8th, Ruapuke Kollective representatives described plans of Sino Steel to develop an opencast mine between Aotea and Mt Karioi. Sino Steel is a Chinese state owned company. Belinda Goodman advised over 1200 people had signed a petition opposing the proposal. residents first became aware of prospecting when they saw extensive helicopter activity. They asked Cr Baddeley to take the petition to the Waikato Regional Council and the Ministry of Economic Development at an appropriate time. Allan Sanson Mayor of Waikato District spoke of his recent visit to the Ministry of Economic Development and the results of his discussions. Mr Sanson undertook to contact the Ministry and seek clarification about the matter.
The Community Board then resolved to receive the petition and to allow Cr Baddeley to present the petition to the Waikato Regional Council and the Ministry of Economic Development when he considered it appropriate.