Wind farm adjournment proposed

The board of inquiry considering the proposed 180-turbine Waikato wind farm north of Raglan could take more than a week to decide whether to approve an adjournment to the hearing.

Applicants Contact Wind and Contact Energy yesterday sought an adjournment until May 3, 2010, to address increasingly pointed board comments about the practicability of the $1 billion Hauauru ma raki project, given the sketchy nature of the engineering design evidence offered to date, and the difficulty this has presented for any meaningful assessment of effects by other parties.

The adjournment would also give Contact a window to gather further data on the movement of migratory shorebirds, something the Conservation Department argues is critical before any decision on the project is possible. But board chairman Judge Jeffrey Smith indicated any decision on the adjournment was days away and, in the interim, he suggested the hearing should continue.

This is just the third such board to be constituted under ministerial direction and the first where such an adjournment has been sought.

"There are a whole series of issues we have to consider," he said. "The best you can hope for is a decision before the end of this week. It's more likely to be next week."

On the 10th day of the inquiry at Tuakau, Contact counsel Trevor Robinson said the project fundamentals were sound, but Contact wished to respond constructively to board comments and provide it with "the level of assurance it has signalled it is looking for".

Several submitters expressed the view it would be better for the project application to be totally withdrawn, while others suggested a longer adjournment.

Judge Smith said the board did not have the power to force Contact to withdraw its application.

Landowner Karen Hall said Contact had years to get its information right. "To give them another year is another year of uncertainty," she said. "Is there anything stopping them seeking a further adjournment?" Judge Smith replied: "It's quids on, if you are a betting person, someone is going to come back and ask for an adjournment next year."

Landowner Elizabeth Wright said last-minute notification reinforced views Contact was badly prepared and was trying to ambush smaller parties without the same resources. Richard Gardner, representing Federated Farmers, said an adjournment would be particularly unfair for landowners with a notice of requirement for transmission lines hanging over them.

Tainui Awhiro spokesman Malibu Hamilton said the whole application should be withdrawn and a more detailed replacement submitted. "A 12 month adjournment is not enough time to gather sufficient information, especially in the area of avifauna and Maori cultural relationships with the land," he said.