New Zealand: Focus on the West Coast

At the Crossroads in Coaltown - The Westport Story

The Pain Of "Uncertainty"

One way or another it’s a fact that the past, present and future of Westport and the Buller District is inextricably linked to the ground-covered seams and coal-fields on the lofty cloud-draped plateaus directly outside the township’s front door. On the cusp of a weather bomb that hit New Zealand on June 20, Scoop Amplifier paid a 3-day visit to this enduring part of the nation to begin to gain some on-the-spot perspectives into just how steep a battle the majority of Coasters are facing to find ways to tell the story of their intertwined environmental and economic prospects

“There’s so much uncertainty out there for our town at the moment. This is why people are starting to speak up”.

This sentiment – expressed by a letter writer to Westport newspaper The News on 19 June – was heard often during Scoop Amplifier’s visit to the township in that week.

Uncertainty surrounding the future for Solid Energy’s Stockton mine is one factor concerning the town and district, side by side with uncertainty about plans for Buller Coal’s Escarpment Mine on the Denniston Plateau.

Read Part one of the article

Read Part two of the article