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Inquiry into Wind Farm Proposal
NEW ZEALAND - New Zealand Environment Minister Trevor Mallard is to "call in" a renewable energy development proposal for a 180-turbine wind farm near Raglan so it is considered by an independent Board of Inquiry.
Contact Wind Limited and Contact Energy Limited are applying to build the Hauauru ma Raki wind farm on the Waikato west coast, eight kilometres north of Raglan.
Under section 141A of the Resource Management Act, the minister can call in a proposal for an inquiry if it is deemed to be of national significance and direct that the matter is referred to either a Board of Inquiry, or the Environment Court. In this case, the matter will be decided by a Board instead of the relevant regional and district councils. This proposal affects Environment Waikato, Franklin District Council and Waikato District Council.
"I consider this proposal to be of national significance. It is relevant to New Zealand’s obligations to the global environment in terms of the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, the proposal will have direct physical effects on more than one region – in this case, the Franklin and Waikato Districts and the Waikato region. In terms of security of electricity supply, the proposal will have potential effects beyond these areas," Trevor Mallard said.
"This wind farm is expected to meet the electricity needs of about 180,000 households per year.
"I have considered the views of the councils affected by his decision to intervene, and that while they have the capacity to process and decide the applications, the proposal’s national significance means a call-in process is necessary.
"The applications will be considered in line with the relevant district and regional plans. Local council expertise and processes will be used where possible, and the Board of Inquiry will consider submissions from the public and hold hearings," Trevor Mallard said.
The applications will be publicly notified in September and the members of the Board of Inquiry will be announced shortly.
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