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Wind turbine - Source: ONE News -
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Meridian Energy plans to appeal an Environment Court decision to refuse resource consent for a windfarm in Central Otago's Lammermoor Range.
Resource consent for Project Hayes, a $2 billion, 176-turbine windfarm, was granted to the power company in 2006 and 2007, but the Environment Court overturned the consent this month.
Meridian chief executive Tim Lusk said if the court's decision was allowed to stand it would make it almost impossible to gain consent for large infrastructure developments, with an impact on the landscape, the country badly needed.
"This decision represents a major obstacle for all manner of infrastructure projects such as roads or transmission lines; anything that has a significant impact on the environment."
It was unavoidable that large developments did impact on the environment, he said.
"But it is not a solution to simply set the bar on environmental standards so high that it's not possible to consent projects that New Zealand needs if we're to build the kind of economy and society most of us aspire to."
The 630MW windfarm on the Lammermoor Range was planned to be big enough to power every home in the South Island.
However, the project was opposed by local residents, who wanted to protect the tussock-clad ranges from 160m-high turbines and 12m-wide access roads.
Several high-profile New Zealanders, including All Black Anton Oliver, artist Grahame Sydney and poet laureate Brian Turner, also spoke out against the proposed windfarm.
