News
Contact has applied for consent to build a $1.2 billion 540-[mega]watt capacity wind farm with 150 turbines along the coast from Port Waikato to Raglan.
The project was called in by the previous environment minister Trevor Mallard, which means the consent application process bypasses normal channels and is decided by a board of inquiry, which meets next Monday.
But Contact, majority owned by Australian-owned Origin, is facing a fight on two fronts over the project, led by two well-connected, prominent businessmen who own land in the affected area.
Former dairy industry leader and ex Affco chief executive Ross Townshend is leading a challenge against the wind turbines while NBR Rich Lister Mark Stewart is trying to force Contact to use underground cable instead of the pylons the energy company plans to transmit electricity through to the national grid.
Mr Townshend owns two properties, one on 45 Te Akau Coast Rd, situated at the southern end of the area to be covered by wind turbines.
He says the whole consent process is seriously out of balance, right from when the last government called in the project through to Contact's dealings with the board of inquiry.
He is concerned that Contact is subjecting the board of inquiry to bias by producing non-peered evidence to be heard at the inquiry and by flying the panel members over selected areas of the project.
Mr Townshend is demanding a GPS track of the helicopter route taken by the panel last week.
"It's a charade," he tells NBR. "No one knows where they flew."
He also questions the expertise of the board of inquiry, which consists of Judge Jeffrey Allan Smith of the Environment Court, landscape architect Dr Diane Menzies, Christchurch consultant John Lumsden and Maori governance specialist Gina Rangi of Ngati Tuwharetoa and Ngati Raukawa.
Contact maintains the visual impact of the wind farm is minor and the company has developed a compensation package beyond the Public Works Act provisions that is equitable across all landowners.
However, Mr Townshend says he is requesting the board to visit his property to judge the "minor visual impact for themselves."
He reckons his farmhouse will be just 3km from 17 wind turbines, all 150 metres high.
He says Contact is submitting six CD Roms worth of evidence material to be heard at the inquiry, none of which has been peer-reviewed and containing little economic analysis.
The board meets on April 27, leaving little time for the public to read through Contact's arguments.
"How can Joe Farmer deal with 300 pages of Contact's b******* evidence under the timeframe," he says.
"The whole process has been handled like a shotgun wedding."
He says the decision to call in the consent application was based on flawed thinking around the "myth of climate change and the Kyoto Protocol, and the rushed through, poorly thought through ETS legislation" which he says has the potential to economically cripple New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Mr Stewart has sought legal representation to challenge Contact's plans to erect 80 pylons on 15 farms in order to connect the wind farm to the national grid.
Mr Stewart, whose family fortune is estimated to be worth $250 million, owns one of the affected properties and he wants cables buried underground instead, a move that would cost Contact an estimated extra $300 million.
Otherwise he is requesting that the farmers be paid fair compensation.
Mr Stewart is no stranger to a fight.
His company Masthead Investments has been involved in a number of bitter takeovers, including plastics maker Vertex, and come out on top.
Once the board of inquiry meets, the process is likely to drag on for several months before a decision is reached.
| < prev | next > |