We don’t want wind farmed in our back paddock, say angry farmers
Waikato farmer Willy Muir wants the Government and local councils to step in and order a full public consultation for a controversial wind farm project in the region.
A proposal to build 13 giant wind turbines up to 190m high on north Waikato coastal land has shocked locals who said the Waiuku Wind Farm project, which has been “fast tracked“under Covid-19 Recovery Act legislation, needed to be handed back to local councils to undertake the approval process.
Muir said New Zealand also needed to have an “honest conversation” about wind farms and how close they were allowed to be built to homes, with one home owner in the area facing the prospect of having two massive wind turbines located less than 500m from their property.
The company behind the project - LET Capital Number 3 Limited (LET) - said in its application it wants to build 13 wind turbines on a 560ha site about 8km from Waiuku, which should produce around 80MW of electricity at peak capacity.
The Waiuku Wind Farm proposal is awaiting assessment by an independent panel of experts after it was cleared for fast-tracking by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in December last year. Only the panel can ask for public submissions, if it so desires, which has concerned locals that their voices will not be heard at all.
However, according to the EPA’s website, a panel has not yet been appointed.
Muir said the process would be a lot clearer and fairer for everyone involved if the consent process was handed back to the Waikato District and Waikato Regional councils and a full public consultation process was entered into.
“This is not nimby-ism, it’s the permanent desecration of this region.”
Muir, a member of the Waiuku Rural Preservation Society, said the Waikato District Plan made no allowance for the “set-back” of wind turbines from properties.
“Overseas there are set back rules - there are none here - and over time it’s being discovered that wind farms are having more impact on human lives than we thought.
“This is going to affect everyone within a 5km radius - not just visual impacts, but other connections to health issues as well.”
He said a recent plan change in Palmerston North limited the construction of wind turbines to more than 1.5km away from residential properties, and he wanted similar rules put in place for the district.
MP for Port Waikato Andrew Bayly, and the minister responsible for RMA reform Chris Bishop, were approached for comment but did not respond before deadline.
LET director John Southworth was also approached for comment.