3-AD006.00 SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT WAIHI NORTH PROJECT Oceana Gold New Zealand Limited WSP June 2022 32 4 Te Wharekirauponga Track The Recreation and Tourism Assessment (Rob Greenaway & Associates, 2022) has identified that the construction and operation of four ventilation raises within the Coromandel Forest Park has the potential to affect trampers using Te Wharekirauponga Track. This track is located in an area identified by DOC as “remote” in terms of their visitor management zones. This track has general remote tramping appeal but is characterised by low use. The area has been identified as a popular pig hunting area (Rob Greenaway & Associates, 2022). The Recreation Assessment has considered noise effects (from vent raises and helicopter movements) based on Marshall Day Acoustics Assessment of Noise Effects (2022) and considered the effect on recreational use to not be significant. Impact Description: The construction of the GOP and the NRS will result in the loss of a section of the MTB track and the access road to the motocross track and will impact on several of the course routes associated with the Nugget Multisport Festival event. This represents a medium term loss from the start of the construction of each of these project components, with both GOP and the NRS construction commencing in the second half of 2023. There are no formal agreements in place in respect of the use of OGNZL land for both the MTB track and the motocross access road. The arrangements that are currently in place are based on historical informal agreements between users and the previous operators, Newmont Mining Corporation. The Recreation and Tourism Assessment concluded that the effect on recreation at a regional level is very low. During construction of the raises, effects on activity on the Te Wharekirauponga Track users is likely to be more than minor for those visitors that experience a change in landscape effects i.e., the intrusion of industrial structures in an undeveloped setting (Rob Greenaway & Associates, 2022). During the operational phase, the presence of the raises is unlikely to change the level of activity on the tracks. Impact Statement: Loss of Recreational Facilities: The loss of a section of the MTB track and access road to the motocross track will directly affect those Waihi residents that are regular users, as well as those people who travel within the local and regional area to make use of these facilities. The Nugget Multisport Festival would either not be able to continue to offer the range of events or would have to identify alternative routes from 2024. These impacts are permanent, the probability of the impact is almost certain should the WNP go ahead, and as a result the significance has been assessed to be high. This assessment undertaken is based on the social effects only and excludes ownership or leasing arrangements. Should the mitigation identified be implemented, and effects mitigated, the overall impact would be of low significance. Impact on Recreational Facilities: Trampers may be dissuaded from using the Te Wharekirauponga Track as a result of perception that mining activities and associated structures will detract from the remote and undeveloped nature of the environment and therefore change their experience. The potential impact is limited to Te Wharekirauponga Track, and the duration is short and medium term. The magnitude of the impact is limited to a few affected and the likelihood of the impact occurring is considered unlikely without mitigation, and rare should mitigation measures be implemented. Overall, the impact has
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