The head of a Maori incorporation proposing a 42-turbine wind farm near Kawhia rejected claims yesterday that the scheme should be turned down because 125m-high turbines could threaten birdlife.

Taharoa C chairman Monte Retemeyer told an audience of about 60 people at the first day of a week-long local authority hearing in Te Kuiti that the wind farm would improve living standards for the 200-member Taharoa community.

Ironsand mining carried out by New Zealand Steel that had supported the local economy since 1970 was expected to wind down, and another income source was needed, Mr Retemeyer said. About 80 per cent of shareholding residents are set to profit if approval is granted to the incorporation to feed power into the national grid.

A joint hearings panel made up of Waitomo District Council and Environment Waikato councillors will this week consider the $225 million plan against a Waitomo District Council officers' report and a Conservation Department submission recommending it is turned down because turbine blades could kill birds - including nationally endangered indigenous species.

Mr Retemeyer said he was disappointed "to note the Department of Conservation's inference that we care little for birdlife in the area". The incorporation was prepared to accommodate extra consents imposed by the local authorities to protect birdlife, he said.

"The Tainui people are often referred to as the bird people. Birdlife is of special significance to us . . . our native birds are a taonga to us - they are precious.

"No commercial activity is undertaken without consultation with the tribal elders and the testing of technical matters by expert consultants.

"The controlled development of a wind farm will further secure the future for our people, and increase the mana and prestige of the incorporation and its many shareholders. It will be the first privately built wind farm and I consider its success to be most important to Maoridom and and example of what we can achieve."

Lawyer Mark Sly - one of 12 experts employed by Taharoa C to argue its case - said collisions between birds and turbines were rare. He said that although there was a risk, this was no reason to decline the application.

The hearing runs till Friday at Waitomo Cultural and Arts Centre.