Waitahora

Story

The Waitahora Wind Farm was a proposed renewable energy project in New Zealand planned by Contact Energy but which has now been abandoned without construction beginning (see resource consent process below). This development was proposed to be located on the Puketoi Range which forms one side of the picturesque Waitahora Valley, near Dannevirke in Southern Hawke’s Bay.It was planned to have up to 65 wind turbines with a capacity of up to 177 MW. The proposed towers were to be 100m high, with a total height of 150m. The windfarm was opposed by a local residents group, representing a large proportion of local residents.In 2013, Contact announced that the project would not proceed in the foreseeable future.Resource consent processThe windfarm required resource consent approval, a licensing process administered by local government. The consent application for this project was publicly notified on 30 September and submissions closed on 30 October 2008. The consent hearing was held in February 2009. Three independent landscape architects gave evidence at the hearing, and all agreed that the Puketoi range was an outstanding natural landscape.The application for resource consents for this project was declined in 2009,. This is not unusual, as several renewable energy projects were declined resource consents (see Awhitu, Mokau hydro, Mount Cass, Te Waka).