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My name is Peter Doherty, I am a farmer and live in the Lee Stream area on State Highway 87. I would like to express my concerns about Trustpower’s proposed wind farm on the Lammermoor range and Meridian’s proposed wind farm, also on the Lammermoor range. I, like many farmers, was not aware of what was really happening in our area and to what extent these proposed wind farms would impact on this area. It was not until I saw the simulated photos of Trustpower’s proposed wind farm and thought, “oh shit” that I woke up to how visible the negative impact will be on this area. Trustpower proposes 150 of these 145m high wind turbines on the slopes of the Lammermoor Range - the television mast on Mt Cargill is 103m high, these towers will be 40m higher and will be able to fit a 747 jumbo passenger jet in their turbine blade circumference. The Meridian wind farm, also on the Lammermoors, will have 176- 160m high wind turbines, larger again. I have lived at Lee Stream for nearly all of my life and I am the fourth generation of Doherty’s to farm in the area. I have always admired and been proud of the area that I live in, it is a special farming area with its broad rolling ridges nestled in between the Maungatua Range and the Lammermoor Range. I often admire the view when heading over the hill on State Highway 87 at Traquair, looking through the cultivated farmland with the Lammermoor Range as the backdrop. I am not the only one that has admired this view as over the years I have seen many tourists taking photos and was reminded one day when I stopped to talk to a German tourist taking photos, “What a beautiful natural landscape that no man has destroyed”, he said. There has been overseas TV commercials filmed in this area, with the landscape the main attraction. These wind farms will be visible from some of Dunedin’s hill suburbs and very visible from State Highway 87, which is a popular and important tourist route connecting the Rail Trail and Central Otago to Dunedin. I farm at Lee Stream as well as Mahinerangi and the view of the landscape from these properties will be vastly changed if the wind farms go ahead. A farmer and his wife from the UK stopped to talk to me on the side of the road one day last year and they could not get over how scenic this area is. Their camera never stopped clicking, and the natural beauty they saw in this farming district overwhelmed them. Perhaps it isn’t until outsiders remind us of an area’s beautiful landscape that it becomes so important to retain its natural beauty. Trustpower, in my opinion, has been very quietly rushing the consultation period through before the greater Dunedin area wakes up to what is going on. I note that the Economic Impact Report states that earliest construction commencement date could be December 2006. I’ve attended two Trustpower open nights. Consultants were available to ask questions, however I found that some of my questions remained unanswered, there was no chance for an open debate. I have had a visit from a Trustpower rep to air my concerns but this was only the day after I received the draft reports, so since then have had more time to read these reports and I find that some of the results are very disturbing. What the simulated photos don’t show is how much earthworks and roading is necessary to build the wind farms. How these earthworks could be allowed on the DCC water catchments area is hard to work out when normal farming practices are classed as detrimental to the water catchments. I have concerns about the noise and vibration from the turbines. I’ve been told the noise will be like a fridge running in my ear - we can all imagine how annoying that would be when trying to get to sleep. I also have concerns about what will happen to property values, as potential buyers will not find this area as attractive to farm as it was. This has happened in Europe where properties next to wind farms have devalued substantially. If this wind farm goes ahead there will be a substantial increase in traffic on the local roads including State Highway 87 and Mahinerangi Rd. If roading material is sourced from local quarries in the Lee Stream area, which is estimated to be 4450 truck loads, that is roading material for the wind farm roads alone without the extra maintenance of other roads being used - quiet farming roads including Black Rock/Lee Flat Rd which will also become very busy roads. It is estimated that 140 extra vehicles a day will use the Mahinerangi Road, 100 of these big trucks. Normal farming practices on these roads will be greatly hampered e.g. the use of the roads to drive sheep between farms. These roads are also used by the school bus and being an ex school bus driver I know how challenging these roads can be without the extra traffic the wind farms would create To transport the turbine components from Dunedin, giant oversize truckloads measuring 57m long, 4.7m wide, 5.7 high and loads up to 220 tonnes will be used. Road modifications will be needed on several corners to accommodate these oversize loads; these trucks require both lanes of the highway in places to negotiate corners and intersections. To be able to get under some bridges on the Southern motorway, these oversize trucks will require traveling in the northern lane of the motorway instead of the south lane, as several bridges do not have the required clearance in the south lane. At some major intersections in town these trucks will require the whole intersection to get round. Mosgiel, as part of State Highway 87, has been assessed as the route these trucks will take along with the Allanton/Outram highway. The trucks will travel at 60-80kmph max and it is bad enough now to try and get past trucks on State Highway 87 without these juggernauts. If the proposed Meridian wind farm goes ahead then you can at least double these vehicle movements, as State Highway 87 would be used again and the Rockland Rd/Dunstan Trail, another school bus route. Trustpower has already been in the area of the proposed windfarm envelope excavating and drilling test holes, with little regard to the native landscape. Some of Trustpower’s actions in the area to date, and comments by Trustpower’s spokesperson Mr Graeme Purchase in the newspaper, would lead me to believe that they have shown very little consideration of our environment and seem to think this wind farm is a done deal.
To me, putting these wind machines or (white crosses as I call them) up there on the Lammermoors will destroy the landscape for future generations. Already in the UK and Europe wind farms are near the top of the list as far as eye-sore structures go. Does the wind not blow in the North Island? That’s where the power shortage is, so build the wind farms up there and leave our landscape untouched. Is the reason they want to build them down here because they think a less populated area and a handful of farmers can’t stop them? Why do we down in the south have to make sacrifices for electricity shortages in the north? Thank You
Leaving the Maniatoto
Government Must Take The Lead On Power
Outram