In April 2009, McCallum Bros. Ltd. won a High Court appeal which upheld the resource consents issued by the Environment Court for the company's sand extraction operations from two areas within the Mangawhai-Pakiri embayment, on the east coast of the North Island.

High Court

The High Court heard the appeals on 11 and 12 March 2009. The High Court determined that the conclusions of the Environment Court showed that, by a considerable margin, sand replenishment would compensate for the sand McCallum Bros. Ltd. proposed to extract and that neither past extraction nor continuing extraction had or would cause erosion.

The Court determined that the Environment Court's decision was justified on the evidence it heard and that the Environment Court had made no errors of law. The Court dismissed the two appeals. The result is that the Environment Court's decision stands

The May 2006 Environment Court and March 2009 High Court decisions relating to Pakiri sand extraction (sand mining) are here…….read more [Environment Court Decision], [High Court Decision]

At the request of McCallum Brothers Ltd, NZ Sports Turf Institute have undertaken a trial to test the suitability of a marine sourced sand (Fields 800) for use in the construction of sand based sports fields, compared to a commercially available sand (control). The trial was established in January 2007 and ran for 24 months. Three turf grass varieties were grown including, Cynodon, kikuyu and ryegrass.

Fields 800 sand contains approximately 5 percent biogenic shell material, and has an elevated pH(water) and high concentration of available (exchangeable) calcium. The concern was that elevated pH will promote worm activity thereby, increasing the rate of contamination if used in a sand carpet sports field. In addition, high concentration of available calcium may induce foliar deficiencies of other nutrients, mainly magnesium and potassium.

The Fields 800 sand used in the trial had a particle size distribution which sits within accepted limits for sports field applications. Calcium carbonate content was found to be approximately 5 percent. Tests on other samples of Fields 800 sand have shown the hydraulic conductivity to be approximately 600mm/hr. This was considerably greater than the accepted minimum of 300mm/hr for sports field applications.

Conclusion:

In the 24 months since establishment there have been no significant differences in the growth characteristics in any of the three grasses between the two sands used in the trial. The elevated concentrations of exchangeable calcium in the Fields 800 sand have not resulted in any induced deficiencies of other nutrients. Elevated soil pH has not resulted in any significant increases in earthworm surface casting or contamination of the sand by fine soil material.

To view the full NZSTI article [click here]

In early September 2008, McCallum Bros. Ltd. loaded 450 m³ of basecoarse rock onto one of their vessels, the ‘Coastal Carrier’, and delivered  the material to Islington Bay on Rangitoto Island for use in reforming the farm road from the Islington Bay wharf to the Motutapu Outdoors Education Trust camp at Administration Bay on Motutapu Island.  This was done free of charge to support the camp, which encourages the youth of Auckland to participate in outdoor activities.  

This rock was donated ex-Drury Quarry  by Stevensons, Ports of Auckland waivered all wharfages and McCallum Bros. Ltd. loaded and freighted the metal to Rangitoto Island at no cost. A similar undertaking was conducted by the same parties in December 2006.

The MOEC camp at Administration Bay was originally constructed during World War Two as the centre of extensive military facilities on Rangitoto and Motutapu Islands for the defense of Auckland from feared Japanese invasion, which included 6 inch artillery batteries and minefields to prevent enemy submarines entering Auckland Harbour (as happened in Sydney and the British naval base at Scapa Flow). Nearly all these defense structures were built by the Public Works Department with aggregate supplied by McCallum Bros. Ltd. which was dredged by the "Hazel Repton" operating on the southern side of Karamuramu Island and delivered to Rangitoto by the barges "Argyle', "Kitty Fraser", "Rover", "Samoa", "Karamu", "Alice M" and "Ann". 

Approximately 10,000 visitors (95% are school and youth camps) visit MOEC each year, equating to 32,000 guest days per annum. MOEC offers accommodation for up to 220 persons and a wide range of activities including sailing, kayaking, high ropes, climbing, waka ama, orienteering, a confidence course, environmental studies, historic walks etc Instructors oversee all activities.

All instructors work to a Best Industry Standard / Practice policy and come from a range of backgrounds that include:

Formal Outdoor Ed Qual such as Dip Outdoor Ed.

Formal industry by ITO or similar such a NZOIA (NZ Outdoor Instructors Association), MSC (NZ Mountain Safety Council) etc.

Significant Logged experience

In House Training and Regular Review / Reassessment.