Tauranga Moana is facing one of the biggest environmental and cultural threats in its history – and it’s being pushed through while its majority owner, the BOP Regional Council – our council – remains silent.
The Port of Tauranga’s Stellar Passage dredging, offshore dumping, and massive wharf extensions have been quietly added to the Fast Track Approvals Amendment Act. This new law lets Ministers rubber-stamp projects with no public submissions, no appeal rights, and minimal environmental scrutiny.
Te Awanui — our harbour, our identity — could be transformed forever without the people of Tauranga Moana ever having a real say.
What the Port wants to do
- Tear up the seabed with large-scale dredging
- Dump thousands of tonnes of sediment offshore
- Extend wharves and reclaim more of the harbour
- Invite bigger ships and more industrial pressure
- Shrink already vulnerable habitats and kai moana
- Override the voices of mana whenua, residents and users of the harbour
This is environmental harm dressed up as “progress.”
Fast Track = Silencing Communities
The Fast Track Act:
- Hands decision-making to Cabinet Ministers, not the community
- Cuts out mana whenua from proper engagement
- Removes independent hearings
- Blocks the public from challenging decisions
This isn’t democracy. It’s development by decree.
And Te Awanui – a living harbour with cultural, ecological and recreational significance – is the collateral damage.
Te Awanui Is Not a Dump Site
Our harbour is already under pressure from pollution, sedimentation, declining marine life and habitat loss. Adding more dredging and dumping will push it further toward collapse.
For mana whenua, the impacts are even deeper – affecting whakapapa, customary practices, mahinga kai, wāhi tapu and the mauri of the moana itself.
For the wider community, it threatens the fish you catch, the places you paddle, the beaches you swim at, and the harbour your kids and mokopuna will inherit.
This is not “future-proofing.” It’s short-term extraction dressed as national interest.
We can stop this — but only if we act now
The Fast Track process is designed to move fast and quietly. That’s exactly why we need to be louder, faster and more united.
We’re calling on everyone who cares about Te Awanui to take a stand:
- Ask BOPRC to block the Port’s projects from the Fast Track process
- Support mana whenua leadership in defending the harbour
- Share the message – let no one say they “didn’t know”
- Join actions, sign the petition, make submissions and turn up to BOPRC meetings
- Hold our elected representatives to account
Te Awanui is worth fighting for.
Ngā Tai kī Mauao 
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