The powerlines across Te Ariki Park and Tauranga Harbour. Photo / Bay Waka
The granddaughter of a late Maungatapu Marae leader believes he would be turning in his grave at Transpower's decision not to move powerlines from marae and residential land.
The national grid operator has surrendered resource consent applications for a $7 million project to move 3.3 kilometres of a line supplying Mount Maunganui to align with State Highway 29A.
The 110kV line, established in the 1950s in what hapu Ngāti Hē believed to be an illegal installation, hangs over about 24 homes, Te Ariki Park, orchards, and Rangataua Bay.
The marae and a residents' group supported moving the line but objected to slinging it across the Maungatapu Bridge between 35m and 45m high poles in front of the harbourside marae, rather than via the seabed or attached to the bridge.
The residents formed the Tauranga Environmental Protection Society to mount a court challenge, supported by the marae, to the consents approved by the Tauranga City Council and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
The High Court recently ruled in the society's favour, sending the consents back to the Environment Court. The Appeal Court declined Transpower's appeal of that ruling.
In a letter to residents, Transpower said that following the ruling, it would not progress with moving the lines because it had "no viable options or alternatives".
Transpower told the Bay of Plenty Times it surrendered the consents because "the Environment Court has no ability to grant new consents for alternatives to the overhead realignment...such as submarine cable options".
External affairs general manager Raewyn Moss said Transpower had worked with stakeholders "in good faith" and when it applied for the consents it "believed mana whenua supported the overhead realignment".
"We accept this is no longer the situation."
"As we said during the court process, there is no plan B. Unfortunately, we have not been able to find a solution that suits all parties, so we have decided to surrender our consents and focus on a longterm regional strategy for the wider Bay of Plenty region."
A new project could take up to 10 years to investigate.
It thanked Te Ariki park landowners and hapu for allowing it access to maintain part of the line threatened by erosion, and said it could continue to function safely "for the foreseeable future".
Marcia Taikato-Whauwhau, who was raised by her grandfather, late Maungatapu Marae chairman Taikato Taikato, is the fourth generation of her family fighting against the lines.
She said her relatives would be "turning in their graves" at Transpower's decision.
She said the powerlines were corroding the banks on marae land – "If they actually go down into the water, it could whiplash I don't know how many houses".
Taikato-Whauwhau herself lives under the powerlines.
"Our marae is our safe haven – when you go down there, it feels rural, it feels natural. With the powerlines there, it doesn't."
She said the size of the poles proposed in the realignment would have a "huge" impact in front of the marae. Her grandfather once said the project would "move the lines from our backs and put them back in front of our faces".
She said she and her marae would "fight right to the bitter end" on this issue.
"[We hope to] sit at the table with Transpower and come to some sort of agreement.
"They've got to give us a little leeway too, because they haven't really given us anything …they've taken. They don't wanna do it any way but their own."
Society chairman Peter McArthur said leaving the illegally installed lines where they were was "unacceptable".
In his view, the cancellation was "a continuation of the appalling treatment dished out to the Maungatapu Marae".
He said the marae and the society "considered the real cost of ploughing the cable below the seabed to be much lower than stated by Transpower when it claimed it was not possible because of cost".
"When did the Resource Management Act ever say that you did not need to meet its requirements if you considered the financial cost more than your budget?"
The society would be contacting Government ministers about the issue.
Both the Tauranga City and the Bay of Plenty Regional councils have adapted their consent processes as a result of court rulings in the case.
Regional council consents manager Reuben Fraser said councils needed to prioritise the consideration of damage to cultural areas when granting consents.
"Infrastructure development in and around Tauranga Harbour which might cause significant adverse environmental or cultural effects must not proceed if there is an alternative that avoids such effects that is technically possible."
City council environmental manager Dan Smith echoed this and said: "When the view of tangata whenua is that a proposal would have an adverse impact on an area of cultural significance ... it is not open to resource consent authorities to decide that it would not".
A Maungatapu resident, who wished to be known as Joe, said he was disappointed the project was cancelled.
"The values of the property are held back because of it ... I'd love them to go."
He said the power line on his front lawn was a "pain".
He said the powerline on his last property was struck by lightning eight years ago, blowing out his hot water pipe and flooding his home.
He claimed Transpower agreed to pay his insurance premium, but accepted no liability for the incident.
"It could have killed me ... if I'd have been touching the tap, I'd have been cooked."
Resident Julie Andrews, who has a powerline in her backyard, said it was "inappropriate" for the powerline to be in a residential area.
She was concerned about the health and safety of residents with lines running directly over their houses and thought it would be more in line with usual practice for them to run along an infrastructure corridor.
She and her husband worried that if the pole in Te Ariki Park fell, it could send live wires down on their property, especially with climate change creating more storms.
"We look quite nervously at that last pylon ... would that create a domino effect?"
There hadn't been any safety incidents in the 20 years they had lived in the house, and they sympathised with the difficulties of relocating the lines.
A resident with a pole near her home, said it would "be nice for it to go eventually, but I can't see it happening".
"It's hasn't really affected us, but if it does go that'll be good."
Other resident comments included not noticing the line, concern about trees growing into it, and the "eyesore" line "crackling" in the rain.