Turitea Windfarm
Key Information
Mighty River Power has lodged resource consents with Council (PNCC), Tararua District Council and Horizons Regional Council for up to a 121 turbine windfarm on land forming part of the Turitea Water Catchment Reserve and neighbouring privately owned property.
The applications were 'Called In' by the Minister for the Environment in December 2008 and are being considered through a special processing procedure administrated by the Ministry for the Environment. A public submission period ran through January 2009 and February 2009 which resulted in 702 written submissions being lodged with the Ministry for the Environment.
Following a detailed assessment phase the submission of expert evidence occurred during May and June 2009. This was then followed by the beginning of the hearing on 6 July 2009 in Palmerston North. The proposal is being heard by an independent Board of Inquiry team consisting of four Board members led by Environment Court Judge Shonagh Kenderdine.
Update - August 2009
At the time of writing this update the Board of Inquiry hearing has sat for 13 days over a four week period which began on 6 July 2009. Evidence that has been heard so far includes detailed project matters, economic matters, construction effects, ecological effects, cultural effects, social impact assessment and landscape effects.
A further three weeks are scheduled for late August, early September and mid October 2009. During this time the Board will hear further evidence relating to landscape effects, noise effects and the planning context. In addition all other submitters who have registered their interest to speak in their written submission will also be heard. This will include other parties in support or opposition to the proposal (such as local residents) and those with mixed or neutral views.
For detailed information on the proposal including downloads of hearing schedules, evidence submitted, public submissions and daily transcripts please refer to the Ministry for the Environment webpage at the following link:
http://www.mfe.govt.nz/rma/call-in-turitea/index.html