POT fast-track application on hold

Port of Tauranga fast-track application on hold after
judicial review upheld
A judicial review of Port of Tauranga’s fast track application for the Stella
Passage development has been upheld. The High Court has determined
that the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) should not have
accepted the Port’s application as the project was not as described in
schedule 2 of the legislation.
The Fast-track Panel that was due to commence on 1 September has been
put on hold pending further direction from the Court.
Port of Tauranga Chief Executive, Leonard Sampson, said it was clearly
ludicrous that a project worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the NZ
economy could be unnecessarily delayed yet again – this time by a few
words missing from a schedule due to a drafting oversight.
The Port was clear in its description of the Stella Passage development
when it applied to be included in Schedule 2 of the Fast-track Approvals Act,
making it clear that the project included the Mount Maunganui wharves.
The Port of Tauranga Stella Passage resource consent has always included
the Sulphur Point and Mount Maunganui wharves.
The Judge’s decision agrees that whilst it may have been left out by mistake,
there is no discretion, and the EPA should not have accepted the application
based of the current wording in the schedule of the legislation.
“We are turning away shipping lines that want to call at Tauranga. In the last
month, the Port has had to turn away a proposed new service to the
Americas that would have provided New Zealand importers and exporters
with an estimated $65 million to $90 million per annum in international
freight savings. The delays are preventing a much-needed boost to the New
Zealand economy,” said Mr Sampson.
Media Release
27 AUGUST 2025

The Environment Court has already established that the environmental impact from the
Stella Passage development will, from a Western science perspective, be minor in the
short-term and negligible in the long-term. However, Port of Tauranga has been unable
to reach agreement with opposing iwi and hapū parties on the appropriate level of
mitigation for the cultural impacts of the development.
Port of Tauranga is urging the Government to act quickly and rectify the wording in the
fast-track legislation to resolve the situation.
For more information, please contact:
Rochelle Lockley
GM Communications
021 865 884
Email Rochelle.Lockley@port-tauranga.co.nz