Hydro scheme feasibility study on hold

A $1 million feasibility study on a proposed hydro scheme for Murchison's Matakitaki River has been put on hold.

Electricity retailer Network Tasman was to announce yesterday whether it would go ahead with the study.

However, chief executive Wayne Mackey said public consultation had raised some issues and it could be two years before a decision was made.

Network Tasman is considering developing up to four hydro dams on the Matakitaki, a popular kayaking river.

Whitewater New Zealand conservation officer Tony Ward-Holmes said it provided feedback from more than 200 kayakers opposing the proposal.

He said an early study had not taken environmental, economic and recreational factors into account.

Network Tasman had also used old river-flow data, he said.

Ward-Holmes said it was likely Network Tasman was waiting for the second phase of resource management plan amendments that could ease the project's consent process.

"This would be the greatest loss of a recreational amenity to power generation in the country, and we will fight it to the death."

- © Fairfax NZ News