Transpower to move one pylon

Residents of the idyllic Brookby lifestyle block south of Auckland are celebrating a partial victory after Transpower admitted one of its proposed giant electricity pylons protruded into a flight path and needs moving.

The change of heart follows repeated warnings from residents and Ardmore Airport that 70m-high pylons on the Brookby hillside were a potential aviation hazard and, in places, "leap into the air space".

Transpower spokesman Wayne Eagleson yesterday said it had received information from Auckland International Airport that one of its pylon towers protruded 50m into air space, creating a problem for aircraft. Transpower had indicated to locals that it would move the pylon to the east.

Mr Eagleson would not comment on claims that the company had ignored earlier warnings about the pylon being in the way of a flight path, saying a key part of the process of finalising a route for 490 pylons from Waikato to Auckland was looking at factors that came up.

The company had an indicative centre line down a 500m-wide path, which it was prepared to move after talking with landowners, he said.

Sue Fuller, whose husband Neil has transformed a 28ha property on the Brookby hillside, said the proposed pylon carrying 400kV cables would have come within 300m of their new family home.

Five years ago the Fullers lost their eldest child in a road accident and feared more trauma from the possible health effects of living under high-voltage power lines.

Sue Fuller said landowners had been telling Transpower for the past year about the dangers of the pylon but it had not listened.

The Fullers' neighbour, John Corse-Scott, said landowners had won the first round with Transpower but were still pushing for the power cables to be undergrounded through Brookby, with its 130-year-old school and $2 million-plus lifestyle blocks.

The Waipa District Council met this week and resolved to fight Transpower's proposal to run giant pylons through its special landscape area, which surrounds Lake Karapiro and includes the Maungatautari wildlife sanctuary.

Councillors will submit that Transpower either re-thinks its discarded eastern route, or runs an underground cable through the Karapiro area.

Mayor Alan Livingston said he was "gutted" that Transpower was ignoring public opinion and seemed intent on destroying a stunning natural environment.