DOC's secret deal leaves sour taste
If power companies pushing to build wind farms aren’t involved in any dodgy back room dealings to ensure they get their way, they’re sure doing a good job making it appear that they are.
Yesterday, the Department of Conservation admitted taking $175,000 from Meridian Energy in return for dropping its opposition to the controversial Project Hayes wind farm, near Ranfurly.
The agreement, signed in 2005, had been shrouded in secrecy until the media made it public.
DOC said it took the money to deal with the loss of amenity value on the adjoining piece of conservation land, and improve access.
No one doubts DOC would use the money to mitigate the effects the construction of the wind farm would have on the environment, but choosing to do the deal in secret was horrifyingly poor judgment.
One can easily understand why Meridian would not want such transactions, however altruistic, to be made public. Handing over money to opponents in exchange for their silence is never great public relations, even if the payment is used to mitigate or eliminate adverse impacts of the development. But what motivation did DOC have for keeping the arrangement quiet?
And, if it has entered into a secret deal on this occasion, how many other deals have been kept from the public? DOC may well be acting in the best interests of the public, but that should be for the public to judge.
The construction of wind farms is a hugely controversial issue, and no more so than in Manawatu. The disagreement between those who support the erection of turbines and those who oppose it is fierce. That’s OK, debate and disagreement is the essence of good decision-making. But the discussion must be held out in the open and based on information that is equally accessible to everyone.
Here in Manawatu, we are in the midst of our own decision-making process, with public submissions on the Turitea wind farm proposal now being called for. Already, the debate has become heated. That was inevitable, and not altogether undesirable. What is undesirable, however, here or anywhere else, is the perversion of the principles that should guide the decision-making process.
If the process is not open, accessible and transparent, the public sense of disenfranchisement will only breed resentment. The decision cannot be credible if the way by which it was reached lacks credibility.
DOC likely made the correct decision in taking money from Meridian, but the way it did so has undermined not just the integrity of Project Hayes, but the department’s own reputation.
Michael Cummings
Deputy Editor
17 February 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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