Draft decision and conditions

On 9 July 2026, the Hananui Aquaculture Project expert panel issued Minute 7 releasing its draft decision and conditions.

Minute 7 of the expert panel (PDF, 175 KB)

Hananui Aquaculture Project Draft Decision (PDF, 821 KB)

Appendix B – Conditions of RMA approvals (DOCX, 2.1 MB)

Appendix C – Conditions of Wildlife Act approvals (DOCX, 58 KB)

Appendix E – Summary of comments (PDF, 315 KB)

Under section 70 of the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 (the Act), an expert panel must invite comments on the draft conditions from:

the applicant
every person or group that provided comments under section 35 or 53
any local authority or other body with a statutory responsibility to enforce or monitor compliance with the conditions.

The panel must also issue the panel’s draft decision document for each approval in accordance with section 70(2)(b).

The panel set a deadline of 17 July 2026 for receiving these responses.

The panel also set a deadline of 24 July 2026 for the applicant to respond to comments received under section 70.

Under section 71 of the Act, if an application seeks approvals for aquaculture activities, an expert panel must provide a copy of its draft conditions to the relevant chief executive, at the same time that it complies with section 70 of the Act. The relevant chief executive in this case is the Director-General of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

Once the draft conditions are received, MPI has 5 working days to provide a recommendation on the aquaculture decision, with the recommendation due for this application on 17 July 2026.

Under section 72 of the Act, an expert panel must also invite comments on the draft decision, including any draft conditions, from: