Wind farm's size cut to abate impact

The contentious Turitea Wind Farm project was cut back to make sure turbines would not be "overly dominant", a board of inquiry has been told.

Stephen Brown, who led Mighty River Power's redesign, which meant 21 potential turbine zones were axed, said the adjusted proposal significantly reduced the project's environmental effects.

After seven weeks of debate last year, the Turitea wind farm hearing resumed in Palmerston North yesterday in front of a board of inquiry weighing up whether or not to allow up to 104 turbines to be built.

Mighty River Power lawyer Karen Price said further reducing the scale of the wind farm could make it vulnerable to dynamic factors such as exchange rates and turbine prices. The company wanted to continue its "exciting" flagship wind project, but more compromises would create a risk of delay or even the complete abandonment of the project.

Mighty River did not want the opportunity to use a world-class wind resource delayed or squandered, she said.

Mr Brown said he accepted that the wind farm would have a significant impact on the Tararua Range's skyline, but he did not believe the redesigned proposal should be rejected.

He likened reducing the visual impact of the proposed wind farm to "peeling back the layers of an onion" – more layers could be removed, but he had tried to strike a balance.

Mr Brown said he began the redesign process by considering the proposed wind farm as a whole, then removing or moving the proposed turbines he considered the most problematic.

Ms Price said large parts of Palmerston North City Council senior planner Jeff Baker's evidence should be disallowed because they were beyond the scope of his expertise, and represented his opinion.

The city council is the largest landowner that will benefit from a rental from the project if it is approved, but Mr Baker favours just 28 turbines.

City council lawyer John Maassen said Mr Baker was an "evaluative witness", but Judge Kenderdine said she believed he had "strayed beyond the boundaries of planning".

While the board had previously scheduled speaking slots for just a quarter of submitters who wanted to speak about the redesign, it would now allow about 10 more people to make oral submissions.

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