After receiving your question, we contacted Mayor Cocurullo for his comment.
His position is that he personally is against ocean sand mining. We can confirm all of the mayoral candidates are opposed to the offshore sand mining proposal.
As background information, the consent by McCallum Bros Limited is being pursued under the Fast-Track Approvals Act. Under this process, a fast-track Panel is the consenting authority, whereas under an RMA process, either one or both of the local councils would be the consenting authority.
The fast-track Panel may call upon the WDC to offer its view on matters, but that is likely be limited to land-based effects. The NRC would have a greater role to play because it deals with non-land environmental effects.