Waiuku Wind Farm appeal goes to High Court
Waikato Times|Matthew Martin|Sep 30, 2024
Waiuku locals fighting a wind farm project on their back door steps say they’re “disappointed, but not surprised” after the company behind the proposal appealed the decision against it. In March, the Waikato Times revealed a proposal to build 13 wind turbines up to 190m high had blindsided locals, with its consent process being fast-tracked under Covid-19 Recovery Act legislation.
Waiuku locals fighting a wind farm project on their back door steps say they’re “disappointed, but not surprised” after the company behind the proposal appealed the decision against it. In March, the Waikato Times revealed a proposal to build 13 wind turbines up to 190m high had blindsided locals, with its consent process being fast-tracked under Covid-19 Recovery Act legislation.
Waiuku locals fighting a wind farm project on their back door steps say they’re “disappointed, but not surprised” after the company behind the proposal appealed the decision against it.
In March, the Waikato Times revealed a proposal to build 13 wind turbines up to 190m high had blindsided locals, with its consent process being fast-tracked under Covid-19 Recovery Act legislation.
However, in August, the expert consenting panel appointed to hear the application, made by LET Capital Number 3 Ltd (LET), declined the proposal saying it was a poor fit for the fast-track process, which was “partly due to the complexity of the project and the number of issues it gave rise to”.
“The main problem, however, was that the application documents …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]Waiuku locals fighting a wind farm project on their back door steps say they’re “disappointed, but not surprised” after the company behind the proposal appealed the decision against it.
In March, the Waikato Times revealed a proposal to build 13 wind turbines up to 190m high had blindsided locals, with its consent process being fast-tracked under Covid-19 Recovery Act legislation.
However, in August, the expert consenting panel appointed to hear the application, made by LET Capital Number 3 Ltd (LET), declined the proposal saying it was a poor fit for the fast-track process, which was “partly due to the complexity of the project and the number of issues it gave rise to”.
“The main problem, however, was that the application documents showed clear signs of being put together in an excessive hurry,” and “the significant adverse visual effects of the turbines on neighbouring properties.”
LET has now lodged an appeal with the High Court regarding the Waiuku Wind Farm expert consenting panel’s decision to decline the application.
High Court documents reveal that LET appealed the decision “in its entirety” and said the panel “applied a wrong legal test by measuring the project’s benefits against an excessively large standard”, and that the panel “applied the incorrect standard of adverse visual effects appropriate in wind farm cases”, among many other issues pointed out in its 19-page application.
LET wants the High Court to find the panel’s decision unlawful, and has asked it to quash the decision and order a new expert consenting panel to reconsider the application.
Appeals can only be made on questions of law.
Co-chairperson of the Waiuku Rural Preservation Society Mark Robinson said the society was in the process of getting its own legal advice to figure out whether they would represent themselves in court.
“We have until Tuesday next week to decide if we want to do anything about it.
“If we decide to battle the appeal and we lose, we will be up for High Court costs, so it’s unlikely we will seek to do this.
“This would be expensive, and it’s not something we really want to do, so we’ll go back to our members and ask them what they want.”
He said news of the appeal was “annoying”, and locals were “disappointed, but not surprised” one had been lodged.
“It’s not quite like starting all over again, and our advice has been that the appeal is quite weak.”