An expert panel has been appointed to consider Port of Tauranga’s application for the Stella Passage development under the Fast-track Approvals Amendment Act 2025.
Port of Tauranga advised that the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has appointed the panel, which will begin work on March 16.
The panel comprises Bronwyn Carruthers KC, Hugh Leersnyder and James Whetu. The same panellists were previously appointed to consider the port’s original fast-track application, which was later withdrawn following an error in the fast-track legislation.
Comments on the application will be invited from tangata whenua parties from March 30, with the panel expected to deliver its decision by September 7.
The Stella Passage development involves extending the Sulphur Point container berth by 385 metres in two stages and extending the Mount Maunganui wharves by 315 metres. The project would convert existing cargo storage land within the port’s current footprint and include associated reclamation behind the new wharves as well as dredging.
Port of Tauranga says the Environment Court has previously determined that the environmental impacts of the development would be minor in the short term and negligible in the long term from a Western science perspective.
However, the port says it has not been able to reach agreement with opposing iwi and hapū on the appropriate level of mitigation for cultural impacts associated with the project.
Further information about the application is available on the EPA’s fast-track website.
