A group asking to pause progress on the Ruataniwha water storage project is prepared to raise the funds needed to follow through with a peer review of the $250 million scheme.
Transparent Hawke's Bay said there had not been an opportunity for the public to comment on the dam feasibility report released in 2012; the level of ratepayer commitment; potential effect on rates; and financial risks of the project set in Central Hawke's Bay.
A peer review of those details could take at least three months but the scheme would need to be paused, a wish unlikely to be granted by the scheme promoter Hawke's Bay Regional Council.
Transparent Hawke's Bay members Pauline Elliot, John Cheyne and Tom Belford presented the group's case to the regional council this week outlining what it wanted during a "time out" from the scheme.
It included modest resourcing to accomplish the peer review; full disclosure of information related to the financial and economic dependencies of the project; and a hearing to give the public a chance to put forward submissions.