Three Kings United Group Inc
General information about Three Kings United Group
President : Dianne Hill ph 09-623-6642
Secretary : Robin Duke ph 09-624-1520
To help : Austen Bell ph 09-625-9664
email : threekings.enviro@xtra.co.nz
Three Kings United Group was formed in 1995 when it became known that Winstone Aggregates Ltd had applied for resource consent to take water from the Three Kings aquifer, allowing quarrying to continue a further 57 metres down to sea level. At the same time consent was sought by Auckland City Council to build a water pumping station on the quarry site so that the unwanted ground water could be reticulated to about 40,000 people in the Three Kings and Hillsborough areas.
Both resource consents were granted.
Our group has campaigned effectively to bring to light major concerns about the consequences of these two resource consents.
Latest Development
- Three Kings Quarry to be
Filled
Resource Consent Granted by
the Auckland Regional Council (ARC) -
November 2009
The ARC granted Winstone Aggregates Ltd a Resource Consent to carry out
earthworks
and contaminated site discharges associated with the development of a cleanfill site
at Three Kings Quarry, Mt Eden Road, for a term of 20 years, on the 28th
November 2009.
Resource Consent Granted by the Auckland City Council
(ACC)
-
December 2009
The ACC have also granted a Resource Consent for the refill of the quarry
but have not granted the request for a second access road into the quarry site.
Click here to read the ACC Commissioners Report (pdf file size 1.7MB)
Consents from both Councils were required.
Appeals to the Environment Court must be made within 15 working days.
Submission by Austen Bell, 3KUG
(pdf file)
Submission by Wyn
Hoadley QSO, Barrister for
3KUG (pdf file)
Submission by Wyn Hoadley QSO,
on behalf of John and Mary-Ann White (pdf file)
Thank You for Your Kind Donation
WE NEED TO GO TO APPEAL IN THE ENVIRONMENT COURT
Now that the ARC and ACC have granted resource consents to
fill the quarry we need to obtain the best conditions and outcomes for the surrounding residents.
We need to build up our legal fund
to allow our environmental barrister to lodge an appeal to the
Our objective is to aim for the most
stringent and rigorous conditions for this huge urban project concerning :-
Health Issues
Dust Pollution
Noise
Trucking Volume
Road Safety at
Confine the Operational Times to Within Reasonable Limits
Reduce the Term of the Consent to 10 Years, with 2-Yearly Reviews
- - - - - - -
Donations can be direct-credited to our ASB
Bank Account:
Three Kings United Group Inc
Account number 12-3069-0239697-51
Or posted to our Registered Address:
Three Kings United Group Inc
2/15 Queensway
Three Kings
- - - - - - -
You are invited to join your local
environment society
As a supporter or member
phone/email Dianne 623-6642 len.hill@xtra.co.nz
phone/email
Austen 625-9664 austen.bell@xtra.co.nz
Winstone Aggregates Ltd have been given resource consents to fill the quarry
The Downside of the Massive
Project
1.
Alert. Another prolonged quarry operation possibly taking up to
25 years. More dust, noise and trucking
and generating an unhealthy environment for the surrounding residents.
2.
Continued Dewatering
of the Three Kings aquifer, affecting properties in Mt Eden, Epsom, Three
Kings, Mt Roskill, Sandringham,
Royal Oak and parts of Hillsborough.
Subsidence damage is already evident in subsidence zones. The Earthquake Commission have confirmed
there is no insurance cover for man-made subsidence damage; similarly the
private insurance companies. Who accepts liability? Winstone Aggregates
Ltd,
3.
Dust Pollution. Quarry dust has been inflicted on the neighbourhood
for some 80 years. The super-fine dust from the filling activities, trucking,
dumping and bulldozing will cover a wide residential area. This is an unwanted health hazard - a large
proportion of the dust is in the “PM10” category which is inhalable super-fine mineral particles.
4.
Trucking Movements. The proposed new entranceway to the quarry
off
5.
Vermin Invasion. A common problem with most fill sites is the
importation of a variety of vermin - from cockroaches to rats and mice –
which are carted in amongst the rubble and fill from excavation and demolition
sites. Do we have to suffer this?
6.
Incompatible. The filling and quarrying operations in the
heart of a prime residential area are totally incompatible with our residential
lifestyle and amenities. There is no
adequate buffer zone to mitigate the adverse environmental effects.
7.
Aquifer. The Three Kings aquifer is highly vulnerable
to contaminants. There is no pit liner/clay or plastic specified. Down-stream
ecosystems will suffer disturbance. The Onehunga
Springs water supply risks being downgraded.
Inversion layer of pollution over the
quarry pit
The main concerns of local residents and the wider community have focused on;
1. The health problems caused
by drinking the contaminated aquifer water.
After years of concerted effort we have managed to convince the City Councillors, the Metrowater
managers and the Medical Officer of Health that the quarry water is not
suitable for drinking. Acknowledgement of our success came in the form of a
front page article in the Central Leader of 9th March 2001;
·
"Astley springs a surprise" is the front page headline
in the Central Leader. "After six years of battles, the plug may finally
be pulled on plans to supply drinking water from Three Kings Quarry. The
decision follows a surprise about-turn by Auckland City works committee
chairman, Doug Astley, who unexpectedly sided with
concerned residents at a meeting on Wednesday. Mr Astley recommended the Three Kings water supply not be
connected, but be retained as a water supply for emergency use. It was passed
seven votes in favour and only one against."
"Mr Astley says the
weight of public concern forced him to alter his stand." "After all
the residents have been through" says Corinne McLaren,
President of the Three Kings United Group, "we were not expecting him to
stand up and say let's not connect the water." "Metrowater
spokeswoman Sharon Buckland did not wish to comment at this stage."
·
Political history of the proposed water supply
·
Sewage overflow in the water catchment
area
·
Stormwater outflow from the Plaza
carparks
2. Land subsidence caused by dewatering the
aquifer.
·
Graphs of the subsidence at 30 selected sites (pdf
file)
·
Photos of reported building damage
·
Quotes from the Test Reports
·
ARC
Officers Report to the Review Hearing 21-25 July 2003
o
ARC's Summary of the
574 Public Submissions
o
ARC's Discussion of
the Public Submissions
o
ARC Commissioners Report from the
Public Hearing
o
ARC-proposed new Consent Permit following from
the Public Hearing
·
Land Subsidence - What Went Wrong
o
March 1999: Winstone Aggregates started pumping the
water out of the Three Kings Aquifer.
o
July 1999: First indications from the monitoring data (bore holes 11A and 15)
that the subsidence predictions were inaccurate. Dewatering continues.
o
November 1999: Second indication of problems (bore hole 18A). Dewatering continues.
o
February 2000: Third indication of problems (bore hole 13B). Dewatering continues.
o
September 2001: Land subsidence exceeds the Resource Consent limit in Hillsborough
Road (survey mark SM1979). Dewatering continues.
o
December 2001: Land subsidence exceeds the Resource Consent limit in the St Andrews
Road / Mt Albert Road area (survey mark AP8A). Dewatering continues.
o
April 2002: Land subsidence exceeds the Resource Consent limit in the area around Shackleton Rd, Mt Eden Rd, Landscape Rd, Rewa Rd and Fulljames St. Also in
the area around Rowan Rd and Mt Albert Rd. (data from 7 survey marks)
Dewatering continues.
o
October 2002: Land subsidence exceeds the Resource Consent limit at 18 more survey
sites in the following areas;
§
Three
Kings Plaza
§
Duke St, Hamon Ave, McCulloch Ave
§
St Leonards Rd, Mt Eden Rd
§
Landscape
Rd, Rewa Rd, Duke St, Mt Eden Rd
§
Quentin
Ave, Gorrie Ave, St Andrews Rd,
The Auckland
Regional Council finally takes action and requests a temporary halt to the
dewatering.
o
Quote from the ARC Commissioners Report (pages 11-12), 5 September 2003, regarding
what went wrong:- "The expected outcome from the drawdown of groundwater
presented at the original application by the applicant's technical experts has
turned out to be seriously flawed,
and the explanation offered by the consent holder's advisers, as to why this
was the case is not convincing.
Very simplistic assumptions were adopted at the time of the original hearing
regarding the expected groundwater behaviour, and
confident predictions made of negligible ground settlement away from the
immediate vicinity of the quarry. This was despite the fact that the intended
water table lowering of over 50m was very large, and could hardly help but have
a very significant impact on the groundwater behaviour
in the vicinity of the quarry. Unless very complete and accurate information
was available on geological conditions, it seems unreasonable to assume that the material immediately adjacent to
the volcanic crater would not be affected by the formation of the crater. It
would also seem unreasonable to assume
that there would be a complete absence of compressible materials in the zone
likely to be affected by de-watering at the quarry. The compressible soils in
the Hillsborough Road area are little more than 200m from the edge of the
volcanic cone, and no allowance appears to have been made at the time for the
possible presence of such deposits, or the likelihood that they would be
affected by groundwater lowering."
o
The
technical reports were 'seriously
flawed' and the excuses are 'not
convincing'.
This is a disaster that has been 10 years in the making and it has its basis in
flawed reports from technical experts who made a series of unreasonable
assumptions.
·
Land Subsidence - Events Since the Dewatering
was put 'on hold' in November 2002
o
February 2003: Winstone Aggregates issue a report from Pattle Delamore Partners Ltd
which recommends that “Active dewatering of the quarry should be reinstated
quickly to allow a simpler model for transient calibration of the groundwater
analysis.”
o
February 2003: Winstone Aggregates issue a report from
Tonkin and Taylor Ltd requesting that the Auckland Regional Council accept far
greater levels of subsidence than were approved in the Resource Consent. For
Zone 2B there is no limit stated for the amount of subsidence.
o
March 2003: Earthtech Consulting Ltd present their
report to the ARC. Earthtech's report is a peer
review of the reports commissioned by Winstone
Aggregates and is critical of several important aspects of the Winstone reports. Earthtech state
that "Alternative settlement
calculations show that with further dewatering, potential differential
settlement may develop to levels that would start to cause building
damage." Earthtech also state that they "are not convinced that there will be no
adverse effect if dewatering continues to 60m depth."
o
April 2003: The ARC started a statutory review process which will be open for
public comment and will look at the conditions of the dewatering consent. The
Three Kings community waits to see if the ARC has the will to do anything about
this subsidence problem before it gets seriously worse.
o
o
July 2003: Pattle Delamore
Partners Ltd issue a new report that recommends that dewatering be held at its
current level.
o
21 to
o
§
Hold the
water level at its present level until
§
Dewatering
may then continue in a strictly controlled way in a slow stepwise fashion,
provided increased monitoring supports further dewatering.
§
Hold the
water level at the level it is at if differential ground settlement reaches
1:2000.
§
Annual
reviews.
§
6 new
monitoring bores requested by Transit NZ, plus 4 other new bore.
§
5 Million
dollar bond to be made available to the ARC to provide for compliance with the
consent conditions.
§
New
conditions are added for ground settlement monitoring.
§
New
condition is added for making good any damage.
§
New
condition is added for settlement limits.
§
New
condition is added for protection of historic buildings.
§
New
condition is added for the creation of an Assessment Panel to carry out
inspections on potentially damaged structures.
§
The
consent holder is required to cease taking water if differential settlement
reaches 1:1000.
§
More
ground monitoring points in the worst affected areas.
§
Detailed
survey of all buildings in the areas of greatest risk, particulary
zone IIA.
o
§
Speed up
the dewatering process.
§
Add only
the Transit NZ-requested new bores, but stall their installation for as long as
possible.
§
No Bond
while the dewatering is in progress.
§
No extra
survey points in zones IIB, IIIA
and IIIB. Stall the installation of the other new
survey points as long as possible.
§
Delete
the requirement to "make good any damage" because it is
"inappropriate, unreasonable and unnecessary".
§
Invoke
the stringent tests placed on the property holders that they must prove that
the damage is of a structural nature and that their building was properly
constructed in the first place. The burden of proof is placed on the property
holders.
§
No
building surveys.
§
Winstone Aggregates
will not be liable for any adverse effects "authorised
or contemplated by this consent". Note: Non-structural building damage is
not prohibited by this consent; only structural damage is prohibited.
§
Establish
an Audit Panel to remove the overall control from the ARC. The Audit Panel will
be funded and maintained by Winstone Aggregates. It
will have no legal status and bear no liability.
o
§
Stop the
dewatering.
§
Install
all the new monitoring bores and ground survey points without delay.
§
Increase
the Bond to 25 million dollars.
§
Agree
with the ARC on all their new requirements which help to protect the interests
of the property holders.
§
Detailed
survey of all buildings in all zones affected by the dewatering.
§
Add a
statutory definition of what constitutes 'structural' damage in Condition 10.
§
Terminate
the Resource Consent when Condition 10 has been breached.
§
Make the
damage assessment and claims process less stressful for the claimant.
o
§
Conduct a
baseline engineering study in zone IIIA, which encompases a section of the new state highway 20, as per
the Three Kings United appeal.
§
Increase
the amount of monitoring and surveying as per the Three Kings United appeal.
o
§
Agree
with the ARC on all their new requirements which help to protect the interests
of the property holders.
§
Generally
disagree with all of Winstone Aggregates requests
because they are not in the interests of the property holders.
§
Delete
the words in Condition 10 that were previously added, by a Winstone
appeal to the
§
Detailed
survey of all buildings within the area of wider settlement affected by the
dewatering.
§
The Bond
shall be backed up by an irrevocable Deed issued by Winstone's
parent company.
§
Make the
damage assessment and claims process less stressful for the claimant.
§
The ARC
shall appoint an independent expert to monitor and report on the Consent
Holder's exercise of the consent.
§
The ARC
shall report quarterly to the property owners in the area.
o
25 May 2004: First Mediation Hearing in the
3. The suitability of a quarry in a
residential area.
·
Future aerial view - a hole down to sea level
·
Future pictorial view - a hole down to sea
level
·
Cross-sectional diagram of the quarry.
4. Act of Parliament - 1915 No 68 - Dated
·
Big King Protection Zone Infringement - Negligent
quarrying operation
5. Quarry Dust Survey.
·
Mineral composition of the rock dust from the Three
Kings Quarry
You are invited to join our Environmental
Society
To assist and help the Group improve the wellbeing of the residents
by working to eliminate quarrying activities and their associated dust,
pollution, noise, trucking chaos and degradation of ground water.
The residents of Three Kings, Mt Eden, Epsom and Mt Roskill
deserve the highest environmental standards in keeping
with their property and life style.
THREE KINGS UNITED GROUP INC
For membership forms please phone
Dianne 623-6642 or Austen 625-9664