EDITORIAL: Taking wind out of Bay tourism sails

PAUL TAGGART
Plans for windfarms appear to have sneaked up on us. And they couldn't have done so at a better time, with on-going trouble in the Middle East pushing fuel costs for more conventional power production through the roof.
Fears of fuel shortages and sky-high petrol costs give the use of natural generation systems, such as windmills, a huge boost in acceptability.
However, Hawke's Bay's future hinges, to a large degree, on tourism, so are the windmills likely to enhance the image of the Bay, or destroy some of the most beautiful natural vistas in the world?
In the words of newly appointed Hawke's Bay Wine Country Tourism Association executive officer Megan Harris, Hawke's Bay is a "piece of paradise".
The former sales and marketing manager at Splash Planet and communications manager at EIT said if we all work together we can increase the number of visitors coming here, which is good for the economy, and therefore good for us all.
But is having our hillsides dotted with windfarms compatible with that?
Two windfarm companies now vying for the same air space to power their turbines on neighbouring properties near the Titiokura Summit shows how serious the business now is.
Hawke's Bay Windfarms Ltd says the turbines that lines company Unison plans to erect within 60 metres of its boundary will interfere with the wind flow to Hawke's Bay Windfarms turbines on neighbouring farms.
The company has filed an appeal with the Environment Court against Unison's resource consent to erect 16 turbines on the top of the Maungaharuru Range, as granted by the Hastings District Council last month.
Unison has also appealed against some of the conditions the council imposed on its 16-turbine development, while a newly-formed group called the Outstanding Landscape Protection Society has lodged an appeal against the entire development.
Concerns some objectors have include noise, industrial development in a rural area, aircraft safety, ecological effects and social implications.
It may be a taste of things to come if power companies find the windfarm concept profitable and more applications for such developments are made.
There can be no doubt some such developments are a blight on the landscape and only by careful site selection and extensive consultation can we avoid seriously damaging the district's natural beauty.
Wind farms should not be allowed to randomly pop up on any hillside with a decent breeze. The matter needs to be managed for the benefit of all Hawke's Bay residents, and visitors to the province. A windfarm charrette, anyone?