Ear of Mighty River limited to the few

People who want to tell a board of inquiry what they think of the redesigned Turitea Wind Farm proposal will soon find out if the board wants to hear from them.

Of 225 submitters on Mighty River Power's adjusted proposal, 103 people said they wanted to speak to the board, but the board is unlikely to give all of them a slot at the hearing, which resumes in Palmerston North next week.

Mighty River Power wants to build up to 104 wind turbines on the Tararua Range near the city, having reduced the scale of its proposed wind farm from the initial 121-turbine maximum.

The board told submitters it did not want to hear the same material already covered in the hearing last year.

"The board has noted that many of the submissions on the redesign repeat the concerns raised in their original submissions or do not provide any details as to the nature of their issues regarding the redesign, and therefore those submissions do not comply with the board's directions," Judge Shonagh Kenderdine wrote to submitters.

"It therefore does not consider it necessary to hear all the submitters that indicated that they wish to be heard."

The board was reassessing submissions and was due to tell submitters early this week if they were required.

Ngahere Park Rd resident Rosemary Koot said she hadn't yet been told by the board whether it wanted to hear from her.

Mrs Koot said she would be annoyed if the board decided she had nothing new to contribute.

"Hearing people is what this is all about, isn't it?"

In her submission on the redesign, Mrs Koot said her concerns about proximity to her home, noise issues and damage to the environment had "not been addressed at all".

Another submitter, city businessman Simon Barnett, said the power company had made only small changes, so it was not surprising that objections to the redesign were often similar to the views expressed before.

- © Fairfax NZ News