Wind farm has locals in a flap

Most of those people living closest to the proposed Te Uku wind farm are vehemently opposed to the project. After days of detached and often numbing pontifications from hired consultants, it was a stark contrast yesterday to hear some of the closest residents bring a human face to the hearing in Ngaruawahia. "I can only speak from ... Complete story »

Windfarm generates opposition

Public submissions on the proposed Waverley wind turbine farm are overwhelmingly opposed to the project, mainly on the grounds of turbine height, noise, vibration and the effect on the coastal landscape. But there are some heavyweights among submitters who want the $300 million development to proceed, and they include the Ministry of Economic Development, the Energy ... Complete story »

SAVE CENTRAL!!!


We must make every effort to save Central Otago's Landscapes and
Heritage from unprecedented, inappropriate, ill-conceived and
irreversible development.

These landscapes are outstanding and interdependent, unique regionally,
nationally and internationally. They must be saved from
industrial-scale development and from being wrongfully sacrificed in
the name of "renewable clean energy".

They form part of the great jigsaw puzzle that makes the region's beauty
exceptional. One cannot selectively take out large bits of this puzzle.

The Central Otago District, Clutha District, and Otago Regional Councils
have approved both TrustPower's Mahinerangi Wind Farm and Meridian's
Project Hayes, basing their decisions on incomplete and deceptive
information. The approval sets very dangerous precedents.

A meeting is to be held at 7.30 PM on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4 at the CENTRAL
STORIES MUSEUM AND GALLERY in ALEXANDRA to inform you of the issues and
challenges that confront us as a region. We seek your support in this
all-important battle.

Please attend and see how you can help.

Ewan Carr
Grahame Sydney
For Maniototo Environmental Society and Upland Landscape Protection.

Wind farm 'visible from Island Bay to Waikanae'

A wind farm planned for above the Pauatahanui Inlet in Porirua might be seen from as far away as Island Bay and Waikanae. A document leaked to The Dominion Post shows that the 130-metre high turbines would be visible from areas of Wellington City, the Hutt Valley, beyond Upper Hutt and as far north as Waikanae. Prepared ... Complete story »

~ New Zealand
22 Nov 2007 ~

Nine wind farm appeals lodged

Nine appeals have been made against Meridian Energy's resource consent application to build 176 wind turbines on the Lammermoor range. Environment Court case manager Chris Jordan said more appeals could be lodged but it seemed most appellants had received hearing results on or before November 1. There is a period of 15 working days after receiving hearing ... Complete story »

Contact Energy seeks delay over Central Otago wind farm

Contact Energy has taken the unusual step of appealing against another energy operator's wind farm project. It has asked the Environment Court to place a special condition on Meridian Energy's 630-megawatt wind farm in Central Otago, saying it should go ahead only when there is enough investment in transmission lines to carry electricity out of ... Complete story »

~ New Zealand
20 Nov 2007 ~

Battle on to stop wind farm

A Central Otago society is challenging government plans in what it calls a David-and-Goliath battle to stop a windfarm being built on the Lammermoor Range. The Upland Landscape Protection Society yesterday was the first group to officially lodge an appeal against Meridian Energy's Project Hayes with the Environment Court. Meridian was given resource consent to build its ... Complete story »

~ New Zealand
21 Nov 2007 ~

Turbine waiting list hits wind farm

Wel Networks' proposed Te Uku wind farm will provide enough electricity to supply 32,000 homes if it gets the green light. But even if it is approved before the end of the year, it will be some time before the first switch is thrown, judging by the evidence of electricity generation engineering expert and project manager ... Complete story »

Plan change

~ New Zealand
21 Nov 2007 ~

Wind farm plan change proposed

Porirua City Council has notified a proposed change to its District Plan to provide specific rules around wind farms for any future applications that may be made within Porirua City boundaries. "The Porirua District Plan was first drafted in 1992, when wind farms were not well known in New Zealand, so specific rules relating to ... Complete story »

PUBLIC MEETING:

PUBLIC MEETING: THE WIND FARM APPEALS


Artist Grahame Sydney in the Otago Daily Times has rightly observed that giant wind farms constitute a threat to cherished Otago landscapes comparable with the Clyde Dam in magnitude and grossness. Renewable Energy was supposed to be green, but there is nothing green about Project Hayes.

To this end, a public meeting has been organised for 7 pm on Wednesday, 28 November, at the hall at 15 Durham St, Mornington (Dunedin), to address strategy and fundraising for the appeals.

The role and character of parties entering appeals will be discussed, alongside the challenges these parties face. This will be followed by a chaired floor discussion. All those interested in supporting the appealing parties at this critical time are encouraged to attend the meeting, and learn how they can help fight for our heritage landscapes.

For more information, please ring: (03) 482 2215

or email: donttrustpower@uplandlandscapeprotection.org.

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Local Man opposed to wind farm

Local man vocally opposed to wind farm

A Waverley businessman has come out fighting against a wind farm being proposed for coastal land near the South Taranaki town. Australian company Allco Wind Energy announced in April it planned to construct a 45-turbine wind farm on Stewart Rd, 6km south-west of Waverley. Resource consent application was lodged with the South Taranaki District Council in September, ... Complete story »

Carbon Sale

~ Europe, New Zealand
20 Nov 2007 ~

TrustPower carbon sale

European company Electrabel has signed an Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement with TrustPower to buy carbon credits from one of its wind farms. Electrabel will purchase 228,000 carbon credits from TrustPower's Tararua II Wind Farm over the period 2008-12. The Tararua II Wind Farm is an eligible project under the Joint Implementation mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol yielding ... Complete story »

Letter to the Editor:

Recent Submission to the ODT:

The lack of planning or social responsibility in this ongoing wind-farm insanity has been simply disgusting, and the highest levels of Government should be held accountable. The public has been  misled as to the economic merits and environmental impact of the Otago wind farms, communities have been ripped apart, and the stress placed on those opposing these juggernauts has been immense, not least because of a cruel hearing overlap which no Minister ever sought to correct.

Unless these proposals can be blocked in Court, a highly stressful and costly undertaking, our power bills will skyrocket. As Transpower suggests, consumers will ultimately foot the bill for new transmission, wind-farm construction, and potentially the firming generation required when the wind is unsuitable for generation. Moreover, heritage Otago landscapes may soon be butchered. One wonders if Articles 5, 12 and 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have not in fact been violated when a State-Owned Enterprise is free to erect giant industrial infrastructure on the doorstep of dissenting households that formerly enjoyed views, privacy and solitude. Even the proposed carbon savings are farcical in light of the industry required to build and erect the turbines, and the fact that agriculture, which is 52 percent of New Zealand's greenhouse-gas emissions, accounts for a significant increase in national energy demand.

Meanwhile, the Dunedin-based Minister for Energy, David Parker, has refused to comment on the recent Meridian-Comalco deal (572 MW of continuous supply for eighteen years) as anything other than a commercial arrangement between two parties. Mr Parker has also commented repeatedly that wind farms 'should not be built on some landscapes', by which he presumably means Mt Cook and Mitre Peak? Contact Energy's appeal on Mahinerangi Wind Farm confirms that there is already 'a surplus of electricity generation capacity, relative to local demand'; yet Otago-Southland has once more been dragged onto the slab to feed populations elsewhere.

(Dr) Richard Reeve

Capacity of grid in doubt

~ New Zealand
07 Nov 2007 ~

Capacity of grid in doubt

Windpower is blowing up a storm between South Island electricity generators over use of Transpower's electricity transmission lines. At issue is whether Transpower's links within Otago and from Benmore through the Cook Strait cable to Wellington can handle electricity generated by two proposed wind farms the TrustPower Ltd Mahinerangi project and the Meridian Energy Ltd Project ... Complete story »

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Wind farm opponents face steep costs if Meridian taken to Environment Court

Opponents of the Project Hayes wind farm faced a bill of up to $90,000 if they chose to take Meridian Energy to the Environment Court, according to groups that have been through the process. Consent was given to the energy giant this week to build a 176-turbine wind farm on the Lammermoor Range, south of Ranfurly. Makara ... Complete story »

Meridian granted consent for giant wind farm

~ New Zealand
31 Oct 2007 ~

Meridian granted consent for giant wind farm

State power company Meridian Energy has won resource consent to build a huge wind farm in Central Otago, but that is not the last word on the $1.5 billion project. The Central Otago District Council and the Otago Regional Council yesterday issued a resource consent to Meridian for a proposed 176-turbine wind farm, called Project Hayes, ... Complete story »

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~ New Zealand
31 Oct 2007 ~

Landscape main factor in wind farm opposition

Project Hayes panel chairman John Matthews has released a 12-page statement explaining his reasons for voting against the Lammermoor wind farm proposal. Mr Matthews, a Queenstown barrister, voted with fellow commissioner David McMahon to approve the Otago Regional Council consents required for the project, but against all four commissioners for the Central Otago District Council consents ... Complete story »

Hayes wind farm project approved

~ New Zealand
31 Oct 2007 ~

Hayes wind farm project approved

A wind farm near Ranfurly with 176 turbines has been granted resource consent by the Central Otago District Council. Meridian Energy says the Hayes wind farm will generate up to 630 megawatts — enough electricity to power all homes in Otago, plus Dunedin and Christchurch. Project Hayes is located to the south of Ranfurly on the ... Complete story »

Opponents plan appeal against NZ's biggest wind farm

~ New Zealand
31 Oct 2007 ~

Opponents plan appeal against NZ's biggest wind farm

Groups opposed to plans for the country's biggest wind farm say they will take their case to the Environment Court. The 176-turbine project near Ranfurly in Central Otago was granted resource consent on Wednesday. After considering public views on the project, a panel of commissioners granted Meridian Energy permission to build on the Lammermoor Range. ... Complete story »

Hayes wind farm project approved

~ New Zealand
31 Oct 2007 ~

Hayes wind farm project approved

A wind farm near Ranfurly with 176 turbines has been granted resource consent by the Central Otago District Council. Meridian Energy says the Hayes wind farm will generate up to 630 megawatts — enough electricity to power all homes in Otago, plus Dunedin and Christchurch. Project Hayes is located to the south of Ranfurly on the ... Complete story »

NZ Windfarms to seek consent for extension

~ New Zealand
30 Oct 2007 ~

NZ Windfarms to seek consent for extension

NZ Windfarms plans to seek resource consent to extend its Te Rere Hau wind farm near Palmerston North, hoping to add up to 37 more turbines. The 48.5 megawatt site in the Tararua Ranges is consented for 97 turbines. The company would discuss the proposed extension with landowners, community groups and the public before making formal ... Complete story »