Mighty River Power says its decision to remove nine turbine sites on its proposed Turitea wind farm is in response to feedback from the public.
The decision to remove the nine proposed turbine sites comes after engagement with stakeholders, including the general public, which showed that while the community was generally supportive of wind generation, some neighbours felt a few of the turbine sites were too close to permanent dwellings.
Five of the turbine sites are the closest to houses of people who raised proximity concerns about some of the proposed development’s 131 turbines sites. An additional four turbine sites have been removed for mainly ecological reasons.
Mark Henry, the Mighty River Power Turitea Project Manager, says Mighty River Power is committed to ensuring that its wind farm project is well understood by the community.
He said Mighty River Power welcomes feedback and staff are available for further public engagement and discussion. Two further public information days will be held at the Palmerston North Convention Centre next week on Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd January.
“We have listened to neighbours in and around the project site, and particularly those living next to the proposed turbine sites said Mr Henry.
“Our decision to remove some turbine sites that residents felt were too close demonstrates the community engagement process working and our commitment to respond meaningfully to feedback.”
With regards to the four turbine sites in Browns Flat removed for environmental reasons, Mr Henry said feedback from environmental specialists was that these were ecologically important sites.
“They are in a sensitive area to the water reservoir and, having listened to the ecology experts and their explanation of the importance of this area, we decided to remove these turbine sites.”
He said the company is confident, based on its technical advice, that even the closest houses are now sufficiently remote to ensure noise is unlikely to be an issue. Detailed technical studies show noise levels are within the district noise standards.
Mr Henry said projects of this nature are ‘always a balancing act between impacts and benefits’.
A modified layout would be submitted to the Board of Inquiry prior to notification of the resource consent applications on January 24. The 20-working day submission period closes on February 23. Mr Henry said he did not expect the modifications would delay the consent process, given all other relevant information is already with the Councils.
“The proposed change is not expected to impact on the consent process,” said Mr Henry.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Mark Hanson
Acting Communications Manager
Mighty River Power
Tel: 09 308 8215
Mob: 021 751 772
Or click here to visit the Turitea Wind Farm Project page.