Waiuku wind farm appeal thrown out by High Court 

Little over a year since Waiuku locals had their hopes of a decision against a controversial wind farm in their neighbourhood dashed by a High Court appeal, the appeal has been dismissed.

Locals opposed to the project hope their roller-coaster ride is now done and dusted after the Waikato Times revealed a proposal to build 13 wind turbines up to 190m tall had blind-sided them in March 2024, with the consent process being fast-tracked under Covid-19 Recovery Act legislation.

In August 2024, an 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,” the panel said.

However, in October 2024, LET lodged an appeal with the High Court saying the panel “applied a wrong legal test by measuring the project’s benefits against an excessively large standard”, asked the High Court to find the panel’s decision unlawful, and appoint a new expert consenting panel to reconsider the application.

In his ruling on November 20, Justice Simon Mount dismissed the appeal and upheld the panel’s decision to decline the application.

“The Court found that the panel’s conclusion that LET Capital had not provided sufficient ecological data – particularly on potential impacts to threatened bird species like the Australasian Bittern and long-tailed bats – was lawful and justified.

“The appellant failed to show any error of law material to the outcome,” Justice Mount said.

“The decision confirms that under the Fast-track Act, robust and complete environmental information is essential, even for projects offering clear economic or climate-related benefits.”

Mount said the expert consenting panel acted within its legal rights to decline the consent on the grounds of insufficient information, particularly regarding the effects on threatened wildlife.

Waiuku Rural Preservation Society co-chairperson Mark Robinson said while their organisation could not afford to oppose the appeal, he congratulated the Fast-track Consenting Panel, and the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society for fronting up on their behalf.

“We were running on a shoestring, as most of these sorts of little groups do, and we’d come to an end.

“It was great to see they came out in defence of their position … it was heartening for us to have them step into the breach.

“There’s a tremendous sense of relief that LET’s been told twice … that it’s just not fit for purpose in that location, and that’s been made clear through both decisions.

“The cultural significance of this piece of land can’t be underestimated either.”

Robinson said locals were pleased with the process, which he described as “robust”, and that the project was not “shovel ready”, which was also pointed out by the panel.

“We hope we can all just settle and regroup, and just get on with life,” Robinson said.

LET director John Southworth did not respond to requests for comment.