Meridian unsure on wind farm appeal
Meridian Energy is still considering whether to appeal the Environment Court decision on the Project Hayes wind farm.
The court declined Meridian’s consents for the 176-turbine $2 billion development on the Lammermoor Range.
Its 350-page decision, which was issued to the parties involved on November 6, said the detrimental impact of the project on the landscape outweighed the positive factors.
Meridian has until tomorrow to decide whether to appeal the decision to the High Court, on points of law.
“We’re still considering it, and will put out a statement when we come to a conclusion,” Meridian spokesman Alan Seay said yesterday.
Meridian had lodged resource consent applications for Project Hayes with the Central Otago District Council in July 2006 and with the Otago Regional Council in October 2007.
Several individuals and environmental and recreational groups opposed the consents being granted and appealed to the Environment Court.
The appeal hearing began in May 2008 and was completed in February this year, after three adjournments.
The court’s decision upheld the appeal and cancelled the resource consents. Project Hayes was a proposed development of 176 turbines over an area of 92 square kilometres, with the ability to generate up to 630MW of power.
The development was named after engineer and inventor Ernest Hayes, one of the first New Zealanders to recognise and harness the commercial application of wind power in Central Otago.
He developed a windmill to power his engineering works at Oturehua from 1910 until about 1927, and also invented a windmill for pumping water that was used on many farms.
Hayes Engineering at Oturehua was purchased by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust in 1975.
By Lynda Van Kempen
Otago Daily Times
26 November 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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