The wind has been taken out of Contact Energy's sails with a special panel of commissioners turning away the company's proposal to build a wind farm in North Wairarapa.
A decision made public yesterday declined an application by Contact Energy to establish a wind farm of up to 65 turbines at
Waitahora, on the western side of the Puketoi Ranges.
Grounds on which the proposal was rejected revolved round its inability to "achieve the statutory purpose of sustainable management of natural and physical resources".
Tararua District Council and Horizons Regional Council had combined with the energy company to lodge the application, heard by an independent panel chaired by Chris Mitchell.
It attracted 400 submissions in what was the biggest public response heard in the district, with the hearings taking weeks to complete. These were more or less evenly split between those in favour and those opposed to the wind farm's existence.
A major reason given by the commissioners for turning away the proposal was that a wind farm would greatly detract from the Waitahora landscape due to its sheer size and elevation.
The Waitahora Valley is a well- established family farming and lifestyle area set in an outstanding landscape on limestone rock country with an elaborate underground system of caves, tomos and waterways.
Rangitane iwi had opposed the application because of cultural concerns in relation to local landmarks.
The proposal had called for the building of up to 59 turbines at a height of 150m or 65 at 121m.
There would also have been two 85m wind masts, 36km of internal roads, a concrete batching plant, a substation and a switching station.
The commissioners said they were unable to judge the scale of the proposal when assessing the visual impact of turbines 150m high "because none others exist in the country".
They therefore concluded the turbines would significantly detract from landscape values in the Puketoi Range.
In reaching a decision to turn down the application, the commissioners gave weight to the impact the wind farm would have on individual farms, including the movement of stock and the impact on a thoroughbred horse-breeding business.
