Wind goes out of debate - for now

Graceful or ugly? Noisy or necessary?

The environmental sustainability movement's best friend or a threat to Palmerston North's drinking water supply?

Wind turbines - a point of interest on the landscape or visual pollution?

Mighty River Power's proposal to build a wind farm about 10 kilometres southeast of The Square in Palmerston North has been thoroughly debated.

Impassioned people on both sides of the argument have even choked up while airing their views.

The hearing, before an Environment Ministry-appointed board of inquiry, went for seven weeks - enough time for at least one submitter to knit several garments.

It has now wrapped up for the year, however, and is expected to resume around March, by which time Mighty River Power will have adjusted its proposal.

The power company initially wanted consent for up to 121 turbines on the Tararua Ranges. An alternative layout would see 111 turbines.

They would be up to 125 metres tall from base to the top blade tip.

About half would be in the Turitea nature reserve, the source of most of Palmerston North's drinking water. The rest of the turbines would be on private land.

The announcement of the redesign, unlikely to be finished by the end of the year, came six weeks into the hearing.

That prompted several submitters to comment that they were no longer sure what they were speaking against.

The board, however, has made it clear that it considers changes during the hearing to be an acceptable way of arriving at the best possible outcome in law - the sustainable use of resources.

The number of turbines now sought by Mighty River Power isn't known.

It's also unclear exactly where they would go and their size is also yet to be confirmed.

Submitters occasionally used David and Goliath language to describe their battle with the State-owned power company.

Over the seven weeks, commissioners, lawyers, court staff, noise experts, landscape architects, ecological experts, social researchers, engineers and even the press were paid to be in the room.

Submitters, on the other hand, were spending time away from work, some of them using up annual leave - something they pointed out when Mighty River Power effectively extended the process by embarking on its redesign.

The power company's concession - one of the most significant developments from the hearing so far - followed stinging criticism of the planned farm's visual impact.

Mighty River Power didn't initially say so, but the redesign, led by landscape architect Stephen Brown, became a large exercise.

The company is yet to provide an indication of the scope of likely changes.

However, Mighty River Power lawyer Karen Price said the farm would be smaller than originally proposed. It would involve fewer turbines and no turbines would be closer to houses. Overall, there would be reduced effects on the environment, she said.

Palmerston North City Council lawyer John Maassen sees that as justifying the council's costly and heavy degree of involvement in the hearing.

The council is effectively the anchor tenant, after it changed the purpose of Turitea Reserve, allowing renewable energy to be generated there.

A contractual partner, it has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Mighty River Power as the project has cleared hurdles.

But, its enthusiasm has dropped from gale-like support to possibly a mild breeze.

Having had the decision taken out of local hands by Environment Minister Nick Smith, the council took on the role of sceptic and protector of Palmerston North.

The city council, which initiated the project, apparently did not foresee the scale of Mighty River Power's vision.

At the start of the hearing, Mr Maassen described the proposal as "in your face" and "manscape grafted onto landscape".

One landowner in favour of the project, Joseph Poff, was irritated by the city council's shifting attitude. It had started out supportive, became neutral and was now technically neutral but "really opposed", he told the board.

So, where to from here?

The design team for Mighty River Power cannot consider all the issues until later this month.

Once the new layout is confirmed, other experts will evaluate the impact of changes.