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To: The Bay of Plenty Regional Council - Toi Moana.

Stop the sale of Otakiri Springs to foreign bottling giant Nongfu

Deny Cresswell Ltd (Nongfu Spring) resource consent to purchase land, expand the existing Otakiri Springs water bottling plant near Whakatane.

Why is this important?

Associate Finance Minister David Clark and Land Information Minister Eugenie Sage granted an application under the Overseas Investments Act 2005 for Cresswell Ltd to purchase land to expand the existing Otakiri Springs water bottling plant near Whakatāne.

A decision that will see 1.1 billion litres of Aotearoa New Zealand freshwater being bottled and exported.

There is little information as to where the aquifer that supplies Otakiri springs comes from and how fast it recharges. The science behind the allocation of these aquifers is flawed. The data collected is not reliable enough to ensure that it is safe to collect water from. The depletion of the aquifer could potentially leave permanent damage to surrounding waterways.

Tangata whenua believe that freshwater including groundwater has important cultural value. It is the belief that the mauri (life force) of the body of water (seen and unseen) needs to be intact to ensure the physical and spiritual survival of all living things.

The mauri of Otakiri Springs or as local iwi and hapū know it as Te Otākiritanga ō Te Toki a Iratumoana, is at risk. The removal of water for the purposes of bottling for foreign exchange violates the mauri and sacredness of the water.

This activity
1. Allows the continued contribution of plastic waste.
2. Sells New Zealand natural resources (freshwater) for corporate benefit.
3. Compromises the health and wellbeing of the waterways and aquifers.
4. Ignores the concerns of the local Whakatāne community who are directly affected by this activity.
5. Disregards section 6e of The Resource Management Act being the relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands.

Who really benefits in this transaction? Not tangata whenua. Not Aotearoa as a nation. But multi-billionaire foreign investors - Nongfu.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council still have the power to determine the safety and preservation of our natural resource (mauri) by denying the resource consent.

The New Zealand Government cannot continue to market Aotearoa as “clean green” then make decisions that directly compromise the well-being of the waterways and aquifers.

Intergenerational and sustainable approaches to the environment need to be implemented to ensure we are not leaving our children a barren wasteland. But firstly, we need to stop selling our natural resources at the detriment of ourselves.

When our children ask, “What did you do?”
Will the response be: “I cared?”
Or will it be: “I sold out.”

Mo nga uri whakaheke te take. For the future generations.

Please also support the petition: Stop multi-nationals profiting from our natural water resources https://bit.ly/2MQQ38B

Relevant articles:
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/chinas-ban-foreign-waste-wake-up-call-nz-environmentalists

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/104695650/consent-granted-for-chinese-water-bottling-giant-to-purchase-otakiri-spring

57 Johnson Road, Whakatane 3192, New Zealand

Maps © Stamen; Data © OSM and contributors, ODbL

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Updates

2020-07-30 09:37:53 +1200

20,000 signatures reached

2019-05-16 09:42:44 +1200

10,000 signatures reached

2018-06-23 18:11:47 +1200

5,000 signatures reached

2018-06-19 16:39:43 +1200

1,000 signatures reached

2018-06-18 19:26:04 +1200

500 signatures reached

2018-06-18 00:43:35 +1200

100 signatures reached

2018-06-17 21:53:54 +1200

50 signatures reached

2018-06-17 21:31:44 +1200

25 signatures reached

2018-06-17 21:17:06 +1200

10 signatures reached