50 Boffa Miskell Ltd | Waihi North Project | Terrestrial Ecology Values and Effects of the WUG | 22 June 2022 those associated with vegetation / habitat clearance; construction noise; air discharges; and construction of the Services Trench between Willows Road Farm and the Waihi Plant. 6.3.2 Effects Associated with Vegetation and Potential Habitat Clearance The proposed construction footprint for the Surface Facilities Area on the Willows Road farm property is a combined area of 18 ha within the 197 ha farm property, comprising: • Buildings (including office, crib room and change house; first aid room and gatehouse, small service workshop, wash down bay, and stores building); • Lay down area for storage of tunnelling consumables such as poly pipe, vent bag and rock bolts / mesh; • Topsoil stockpiles; • A rock stack; • Storage ponds for general surface water collection / settling and mine water collection; • A package sewage treatment plant with septic tank and soak away area; • Tunnel recycled water storage and air supply • Private road connection to Willows Road and site connecting roads; • Helipad; car parks; and explosives magazines; • Hazardous substances holdings to store diesel, oils, greases, coolants, limestone etc; • Ventilation fan located just outside the mine portal mounted on top of a sea container or similar (until such time as the first ventilation raise is constructed); • Ventilation raise located immediately south of the DOC boundary; • A high voltage (HV) substation including HV and Low Voltage (LV) switch rooms and transformers; and • A buried services trench connecting Willows Road farm to the existing Waihi plant that will carry 33 kV power, fibre optic cables and water services. Throughout the project development phase, the design and layout of the surface infrastructure was developed to avoid native vegetation areas where possible. Approximately 0.25 ha of mixed native / exotic vegetation will be removed in the footprint of the rock stack and portal entrance. Most of the footprint is within existing pasture or modified riparian margin with Negligible ecological value. The magnitude of effect of vegetation and potential habitat clearance within the farm property is assessed as Negligible, i.e. in terms of native vegetation the local change, and catchment change, will be largely indiscernible and have minimal effects upon the availability of habitat or resource for local fauna. The ecological value of the vegetation is Low and therefore the level of effect of vegetation clearance is assessed as Very Low.
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