Anti-Wairau River power scheme campaign starts

An anti-Wairau River power scheme campaign has swung into the action with the delivery of more than 12,000 leaflets to affected residents.

Save the Wairau campaign spokesman Robin Blackmore said that the leaflet compared the proposed scheme to the failed Project Aqua. It was designed to raise awareness amongst local residents.

TrustPower has proposed diverting between 30 and 40 cu m of water per second (cumecs) from the river, through eight canals to five small power stations located at regular intervals between Birch Hill and Marchburn, where the water would be returned to the river.