Contested transmission line gets green light

Photo / Mark Mitchell

Transpower has been given final approval to build the hotly-opposed transmission line through the Waikato, from Whakamaru to Auckland's southern limits.

The North Island Grid Upgrade Project will be one of the largest infrastructure projects to be built in the country. It means laying 185 kilometres of overhead transmission line, 10 kilometres of underground cable and building a new substation. Work is expected to begin this summer.

Many of the farmers whose land the cables cross on huge pylons have fought for years to stop it.

Transpower's chief executive Patrick Strange says they will work with individual landowners to try to find solutions to their specific concerns.

- NEWSTALK ZB