Turitea Reserve Consultation

Public interest regarding the proposed changes to the Turitea Reserve has increased since Forest and Bird expressed their concerns about the project.  Sue Stewart, as president of the Tararua-Aokautere Guardians supports their stand.
 
The Turitea Reserve is designated as Local Purpose Reserve under the Reserves Act 1977.  It serves as the primary water catchment area for Palmerston North’s water supply.  The 2600 hectare area extends from the Pahiatua Track to Greens Rd and from foothills to mountain ridge line.  This reserve is controlled by the Palmerston North City Council with its current purposes being water supply and protection of indigenous flora and fauna.
 
The Council has signed a deal with Mighty River Power to permit investigation into the creation of a wind farm on this reserve.  Funding has been made available by Mighty River Power in advance, some of which has been used to provide the colour consultation documentation and publicity required for the proposed reserve change.
 
Any proceeds from a designated reserve must be used for reserves.  The City Council has proposed that an Eco-Park be developed on the reserve from this funding source which has been described by Council officers as “significant”. Chris Pepper has estimated that the Council will receive between $400,000 to $500,000 from lease proceeds and an additional $500,000 from royalties for each turbine installed by Mighty River Power.
 
In return, Mighty River Power plan to erect what is believed to be 60 or more windmills in the reserve and surrounding farmland.  This would be in addition to the 286 existing and already consented to windmills to the north (Te Apiti, Tararua and Te Rere Hau) and the proposed Motorimu wind farm above Linton consisting of 129 turbines.
 
If all the current proposals receive resource consent, there could be almost 500 windmills of differing shapes, sizes and speeds straddling our mountain ranges stretching from Wharite Peak to Tokomaru.
 
Construction of wind farms requires significant earthworks for roads, underground cabling and house sized concrete foundations.  This type of work can be observed on the latest Tararua III wind farm extension at present.
 
The Tararua-Aokautere Guardians believe that the Manawatu landscape cannot support this number of wind farms without irreplaceable damage being done to our natural landscape. Should Manawatu sacrifice all of its ridges and hilltops for the benefit of greater New Zealand? When does “enough” become too much?
 
We believe that New Zealand is fast approaching the point where there is a need to debate how much of our natural landscape should be sacrificed for power generation.  The “Save Manapouri” campaign many years ago raised similar issues.  It prevailed over plans to raise the lake and spared the native forest from destruction.
 
The Turitea Reserve is local purpose reserve. Where is the “local” benefit to the Manawatu community from the wind farm? The electricity generated is fed into the national grid to service the needs of the country as a whole. Manawatu does not benefit in any direct sense from this proposed change. It is already known that the concentration of wind-based electricity generation creates problems in the national grid due to localised wind speed variations.  A greater distribution of wind farms over New Zealand would be more efficient and beneficial to the integrity of the national grid than a large concentration of wind farms in restricted areas.
 
Manawatu residents have the opportunity to be heard about a proposed wind farm on their local reserve. Is this the type of project that we want to happen? Should we risk possible damage to our water supply? Will our flora and fauna continue to be protected and safe? Are the proposed benefits a sufficient trade-off for the visual impact of turbines on the natural landscape.
 
This will be one of the first wind farms to be planned for Reserve land in New Zealand.  Will our national parks be next?
 
The public need to speak up before the consultation closing date of 4 Sept 2006.
 
The current status of this reserve provides a sanctuary of natural beauty. 
Do we wish to change that?
 
Sue Stewart
President, Tararua-Aokautere Guardians
 

"If one tells the truth, one is sure, sooner or later to be found out."
        Oscar Wilde