No to proposed Mt Cass wind farm

A wind farm planned for a "nationally outstanding" North Canterbury landscape has been rejected.

MainPower's plan to build a wind farm worth up to $200 million on the crest of Mt Cass, east of Waipara, was declined by Hurunui District Council-appointed commissioners yesterday.

Commissioners Paul Rogers, Paul Thomas and Dean Chrystal said a wind farm on the ridge between Mt Cass and Totara Peak would be "inappropriate", because it would degrade an outstanding natural feature of national significance.

Environmental groups yesterday called the decision a win for conservation.

In a double blow for the wind-power industry, Contact Energy's $500m Waitahora project in southern Hawke's Bay was also rejected by council-appointed commissioners yesterday.

New Zealand Wind Energy Association chief executive Fraser Clark said in the past three or four years the majority of wind-farm resource consents had been approved at council level.

"It's certainly a blow to see these two projects declined," he said.

MainPower managing director Allan Berge said the company was deeply disappointed by the decision, calling it a "backward step".

The Mt Cass wind farm had the potential to be a significant step towards energy self-sufficiency for the region, he said.

The company had still to decide whether to appeal.

Forest and Bird South Island field co-ordinator Chris Todd described the decision as "a good victory for conservation".

"Wind power we support, in principle, but this particular site was so unique and so important it was important the right precedent was set. It is nationally outstanding; very rare."

Mt Cass Protection Society president Alec Ford said the ridge's ecological values could have been destroyed.

Expert Dr Colin Burrows had told the hearing the series of limestone ridgelets on the plateau-like area was an outstanding geomorphic feature.

He said "there is no other place in Canterbury with geomorphology like that along the Mt Cass Ridge".

"The decision has gone in favour of conservation and the environment," Canterbury Aoraki Conservation Board member Mal Clarbrough said.

- © Fairfax NZ News