The quarry industry is forecasting doom and major expansion plans have already been knocked back under new tighter wetlands rules.
The Fresh Water National Policy Statement introduces a new definition of natural wetlands that both industry and conservationists are panning as unworkable.
They say it is too broad or too vague, locking up too much land, but not necessarily genuine wetlands that may be left unprotected.
Already the Auckland Council has rejected Winstone quarry's plans to expand at Kaukapakapa on the grounds that the paddock it says it was wanting to develop, is a natural wetland.
The new rules forbid removal of a natural wetland Wayne Scott who heads the Aggregate and Quarry Association says the restrictions will compromise post-Covid construction.
