Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced a decision to decline an application to mine coal on conservation land at Te Kuha, near Westport. (Video first published in June 2018)

A controversial application to mine coal on conservation land on the West Coast has been declined by the Government.

The company behind the mining proposal said the announcement was "just another kick in the teeth" for the West Coast community, while environment groups have celebrated the decision as one "future generations of New Zealanders will be thankful for".

Forest and Bird had taken Rangitira Developments Ltd to the Environment Court over the application, which would have allowed mining in a 12 hectare patch of conservation land at Te Kuha, near Westport.

The company still has access to about 96ha of reserve surrounding the conservation land that it could develop. However, it had indicated the mine would not be economically viable without the higher-grade coal within the conserved area.

The mine was estimated to provide about 60 jobs to the region but would have done "irreparable damage to an area with very high, unique and nationally significant conservation values", a joint statement released on Saturday by Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Minister of Energy Resources Megan Woods.

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Because of extensive mining elsewhere, the Te Kuha area was one of the last two intact, elevated Brunner coal measure ecosystems, and home to threatened plant and animal species, including the great spotted kiwi, South Island fernbird, West Coast green gecko, and the largest known population of the rare forest ringlet butterfly.

"It is an undisturbed area which is precious and unique," Sage said.

"We have seen, with the major lay offs at Stockton [Mine], with the establishment of the Escarpment then being mothballed that coal has been a rollercoaster industry. It hasn't provided long-term sustainable jobs.

"The economic benefits assessment for the mine showed it was at a poor risk with a perfect storm if operating costs were higher than anticipated, if there wasn't as much coal as anticipated, and if coal prices continued to be at low levels.

"The economic benefits of the mine didn't outweigh the permanent loss and destruction of conservation values."

Stevenson Mining chief operating officer Anne Brewster said the decision was short sighted. Stevenson Mining is owned by Rangitira Developments. "We are very disappointed," she said.

"The Government has made this decision and it is very short sighted ... These decisions are made by people who have vested interests in the community."

The Buller District Council had granted Stevenson Mining, part of Rangitira Developments, resource consent to mine the area in November.

A spokeswoman for Forest and Bird said two court cases – one in the Environment Court and another in the court of appeal regarding access to the reserve land – would proceed at this stage, considering it was not yet clear whether mining in Te Kuha would proceed.

Brewster said the proposed mine area was very small. "There are thousands of hectares of conservation land on the West Coast and all we are asking for is 12 hectares."

She was not sure if they would take further legal action. "We need to sit down with our team and see what our options are."

The decision was welcomed by Forest & Bird chief executive Kevin Hague as "a hugely significant, forward-thinking decision that future generations of New Zealanders will be thankful for".

"This is intact, pristine forest with significant, rare plants that would be permanently destroyed by open-cast mining," he said.

"We hope this heralds the end of this particular ill-advised proposal."

Sage said she expected the decision would be "disappointing for many West Coast residents" but the Government's $1 billion Provincial Growth Fund and the West Coast Bank offered opportunity for investment in other industries.

Buller District Mayor Garry Howard said he wasn't surprised by the decision but still couldn't understand the logic behind it as the proposed site was only 12 hectares.

"It has been a long time coming back. In the National government (then Conservation Minister) Maggie Barry actually sat on the approval.

"The Department of Conservation has 1,596,000 hectares on the West Coast and this was just 12. It would be a commercial venture that is only going to be operating on 144 hectares and an open pit of 10 hectares.

"Modern day mining is totally different to what historic mining has been. The restoration work is outstanding."

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