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Protestors have turned out in force in the Taranaki town of Hawera today as a renewed hearing into an offshore mining application gets underway.
Trans Tasman Resources has for years been trying to get permission to extract ironsands off the coast from Patea, but its consent was quashed by the Supreme Court in 2021.
The Environmental Protection Authority is running public hearings as it reconsiders the company's application to suck up 50 million tonnes of seabed a year for 30 years.
Taranaki Whanganui reporter Robin Martin has been at the meeting and spoke to Charlotte Cook.