Submitters continued to be heard by the independent panel of John Lumsden, Hugh Leersnyder and Dr Mike Johnson during day eight of the port's resource consent hearing at the Otago Regional Council in Dunedin yesterday.
The panel will make a decision on Port Otago's applications to dredge Otago Harbour, dumping 7.2 million cu m at sea, to provide access for larger container vessels in the future; extend the existing multipurpose wharf; and build a public-use fishing jetty at the end of Boiler Point.
Monarch Wildlife Cruises owner John Milburn supported the application in its "entirety".
It was "vital" for not only Port Otago, but the lower South Island, "to have a modern, profitable and viable port facility", he said.
As a tourism operator who was on the harbour "nearly every day of the year", he said his business had a keen interest in preserving it, the Otago Peninsula and adjoining coastal waters.
All its concerns regarding their preservation had been addressed "admirably", he said.
"I am concerned by the emotive and ill-informed approach taken by some organisations and individuals who suggest that significant environmental and ecological damage will arise from these activities."
Such an approach ignored the "significant" studies conducted to support the applications.
Natural perturbations will "modify the environment to a significantly greater extent than the relatively puny efforts of humankind".
"Anything that improves the amenity and value of the harbour is of great benefit," Mr Milburn said.
Dunedin City Council senior policy planner Paul Freeland said the council also "strongly supports" the project because of the economic contribution the port made to Dunedin.
Concerns were raised about noise levels, inundation of roads and reserves caused by ship movements, and impact on intertidal ecosystems, but he was satisfied Port Otago was committed to resolving them.
He also sought a consequential change to the district plan to adjust the port-noise outer control boundary to include rural properties, ensuring affected owners acoustically insulated any new buildings or extensions at time of construction.
However, New Zealand Marine Sciences Society member Associate Prof Liz Slooten believed there was "still a lot of information missing" about where the dredged and dumped sediment would end up.
If she was a panel member, she would be "uncomfortable" making a decision based on the reports provided to date, she said, and she argued for a test dump to be made at a proposed site and for it to be monitored over a period of months.
This would allow for firm data to be collected, rather than relying on predictions based on a model which Port Otago had submitted in its report.
Samantha Jackson also opposed the applications for various reasons, including what she deemed insufficient modelling on the effects of spoil dumping, while Margaret Marsich stated "a model is only as good as the data fed into it".
"Any deposition of material in the sea will be subject to currents, tides and unusual storm events which cannot be predicted in this model.
"Data collection should be done before the project begins," she said.
Port Otago Hearing
Panel: John Lumsden (chairman), Hugh Leersnyder, Dr Mike Johnston.
The proposal:
• Upgrade channel berth and swinging areas, disposing 7.2 million cu m at sea.
• Extend multipurpose wharf by 135m.
• Construct fishing wharf at end of Boiler Point walkway.
• Where: Otago Regional Council, Dunedin.
Day 8
Submitters give evidence.
Giving evidence yesterday: John Grainger, Monarch Wildlife Cruises owner John Milburn, Prof Mike Barker, Samantha Jackson, Bernard Mullane, David Humphrey, Katrina Varian, John Neilson, New Zealand Marine Sciences Society member Associate Prof Liz Slooten, Laurence Smith, Argo Fishing Company, Dunedin City Council senior policy planner Paul Freeland, Margaret Marsich, and Laura Blake.
Quote of the day
I am concerned by the emotive and ill-informed approach taken by some organisations and individuals who suggest that significant environmental and ecological damage will arise from these activities - Monarch Wildlife Cruises owner John Milburn.
