Wait now for wind farm decision

Hawkes Bay Maori locked in a battle over a proposed windfarm on their tupuna maunga says the latest attempt by the developer is an abuse of process. Tania Hopmans from the Maunga Hararu Tangitu society says it will be a nervous wait over the festive season, as the Environment Court considers an application by lines company Unison to build a 34-turbine wind farm on the Te Wake range. Ms Hopmans says two years ago the same company were denied rights . . . Complete story »

100-turbine wind farm approved by court

Trustpower will be able to erect up to 100 turbines at its proposed Mahinerangi wind farm, the Environment Court has decided. * Uplands Society still pondering costs order After an interim decision followed by a further round of negotiations, the court has granted resource consents for a 200MW wind farm near Lake Mahinerangi, northwest of Dunedin. It has set the maximum number of turbines at 100 and the maximum height of each turbine at 145m. But the main opponent of . . . Complete story »
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Uplands Society still pondering costs order

A public interest group hit with almost $50,000 in court costs over its opposition to the Mahinerangi wind farm has not yet decided whether it will pay the costs or challenge them. The Uplands Protection Society had hoped to take legal advice on Monday but had not yet been able to arrange a meeting with its lawyer, spokesman Ewan Carr said yesterday. The society was last week ordered by the High Court to pay $49,788.13 to five parties after a failed . . . Complete story »

Fight on over Puketoi wind farm

A $500 million wind farm development near Dannevirke is opposed by many locals but is being backed by submissions received from as far as Britain. Tararua District Council has received 400 submissions on Contact Energy's resource consent application for the wind farm on the Puketoi Range, with about half opposing the application. Contact Energy wants to build 65 wind turbines on the range above the Waitahora Valley, just 10 kilometres from where Mighty River Power is considering plans to build another . . . Complete story »

Anton Oliver: All-Black soldier, green warrior

The former All Black, who plays for Oxford against Cambridge today, tells Chris McGrath why his passion for rugby has been replaced by a desire to look after the planet. The grate in the college buttery is aglow, and the winter sun stoops through a casement window, spreading amber squares across his face. But the true effulgence in the room traces to Anton Oliver himself. Not because he happens to be one of the front-row titans, capped 59 times . . . Complete story »

Unison tries again for Waahi Tapu wind farm

Like a nightmare that won't go away, two Ngati Kahungunu hapu are in the Environment Court fighting a line company's plans for a wind farm on their maunga. Unison Networks wants to put turbines on Te Waka Range near Te Pohue, on the Napier-Taupo Road. Tania Hopmans from Ngati Tu says the maunga is sacred to her hapu and Ngati Hineuru. She says the company is resubmitting a plan which has already been knocked back because of the area's outstanding . . . Complete story »

09 Dec 2008 ~

Iwi felt harassed on wind farm plan

Maori made it clear they did not want a proposed wind farm in Hawke's Bay but that did not stop Unison lines company from "harassing" an iwi member, the Environment Court has been told. Unison has applied to add 34 turbines to 15 already approved for a site on Te Waka Range near Te Pohue, on the Napier-Taupo Road. The application, being heard in Napier, began this week. Unison tried last year to get consent for an extra 37 turbines, . . . Complete story »
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~ New Zealand
09 Dec 2008 ~

Windy battle gains force

There might be no winners because if the wind farm goes ahead, Shaun Currie, who farms Waewaepa Station and wants the wind turbines, could be something of a pariah. The Waitahora-Puketoi Guardians, will be happy, they don't have to look at the wind farm, but it means no extra money spent on infrastructure in the area and fewer jobs in the hard-hit sheep and beef area of Southern Hawke's Bay. They say they didn't choose this and would rather . . . Complete story »

08 Dec 2008 ~

Costly buy-out for NZ Windfarms

NZ Windfarms Ltd is spending a third of its cash reserves to buy out its troubled Australian partner from the Te Rere Hau wind farm near Palmerston North. The Christchurch-based wind farm developer announced yesterday it was paying $20.1 million to purchase the remaining 50 per cent of the wind farm it did not already own from NPBB Pty Ltd, a company owned by Babcock & Brown and NP Power. Australian investment bank Babcock & Brown last week narrowly avoided . . . Complete story »

07 Dec 2008 ~

Wind-farm firm revises project

Plans for the proposed 50-turbine Puketiro wind farm near Pauatahanui have been cut back. RES NZ development manager Chris Drayton said an area that could have sustained seven to 10 turbines at the southern end of the project, running parallel to Moonshine Rd and on ridgelines above the upper end of Flightys Rd, would no longer be included. The revised plan reflected commercial and environmental concerns, he said. The project should now have less impact on the public and the . . . Complete story »