First published on 
By Sharon Davis and Ellen Curnow*
Protesters used the aerial ropeway cables as a zip line to access a coal bucket high off the ground. Photo: Supplied
Climate activists have climbed into a coal bucket on the rope way at Stockton Mine again to protest Bathurst Resources Ltd's fast-track application to extend its mining operations across the Buller plateaux to Denniston.
Yesterday afternoon, two Climate Liberation Aotearoa protesters clipped themselves to the ropeway cable and used it like a zipline to access a coal bucket in a remote area high off the ground.
This follows a larger protest at Stockton and Denniston in April which ended with at least nine people charged with wilful trespass.
Protester Rachel Andrews, from Palmerston North, was among those charged with trespass on 21 April.
Speaking to The News from a coal bucket this morning she said they had a good supply of water and food and planned to disrupt the transport of coal from Stockton Mine for as long as possible.
Their goal was to have Bathurst withdraw its fast-track application to mine 20 million tonnes of coal on the Denniston Plateau.
While there are only two protesters in the coal bucket, she said they were supported by a huge group of people who were against the mine and the fast-track process.
"There is huge opposition to this mine, even on the West Coast," she said.
Andrews said there were several reasons she was personally motivated to participate. One was the legacy she would leave for future generations.
She wanted to be able to tell her four grandchildren that she did everything she could to prevent a climate disaster.
"We're in a climate emergency,,, people are dying from climate disasters. We can't afford to burn the coal already out of the ground, let alone mining more."
Andrews was also unhappy with the "undemocratic process" under the Fast Track Bill.
She said it placed the decision-making process in the hands of a few people who had shown that they didn't care about the environment and were proud to support more mines.
Protest was the only way for the public to intervene in the fast-track process, she said.
"There is no longer any way for members of the public to voice concerns about proposed projects like this coal mine on kiwi habitat. The New Zealand government has effectively forced communities to take actions like this if we want to be heard."
Andrews spent part of the April protest in a "nest in one of pylons" and was trespassed from Stockton.
She said a lot of thought had gone into planning an action like this. But any consequences would be worth it, to be able to say she had done everything she could to prevent a disaster for future generations.
"I don't take the consequences lightly."
Andrews said many organisations were committed to stopping fast-tracked mines and were in it for the long haul.
"We will continue doing everything we can to oppose Bathurst Resources' proposed mine ... We will not stand idly by and accept this destruction," she said.
The International Court of Justice recently said countries must address the "urgent and existential threat" of climate change by curbing emissions and yet New Zealand was encouraging more mines and more drilling for oil and gas.
Andrews said the proposed mine on Denniston would generate at least 53 million tonnes of emissions, close to New Zealand's entire net emissions of 59 million tonnes.
"We can't afford to keep destroying the planet," she said.
Westport sergeant Georgie Were said police would be negotiating with the protesters to get them to come down.
She said they were in a remote location which made communication difficult.
The News tried unsuccessfully to contact Bathurst Resources Ltd for comment.
During a recent panel discussion on how Buller could transition from coal, Bathurst chief executive Richard Tacon acknowledged the right to protest but said climbing into coal buckets was dangerous. The protesters could have accidentally flicked a lever, flipped the bucket and fallen to their deaths, he said.
Locals took to Facebook today in support of the mine and local employment, with some suggesting starting the ropeway or enlisting the fire brigade to point a hose at the protesters to get them to come down.
*This story originally appeared in the Westport News.
