Farmer still waiting for Transpower to front up

Steve Meier under the Transpower pylon lines at his Matangi farm. Photo / Sarah Ivey

A Waikato farmer at the centre of a property dispute says Transpower chief executive Patrick Strange has failed to meet him face-to-face.

After a fire sparked by sagging electrical lines on Steve Meier's Matangi farm cut power to 50,000 homes, Dr Strange said he would be prepared to meet the farmer face-to-face in an attempt to resolve a five-year grievance.

But a month on, Mr Meier told the Herald that Dr Strange's absence was representative of the national grid operator's failure to communicate with farmers and compensate them adequately for hosting pylons on their land.

He was frustrated with Transpower because they failed to heed his warnings of a fire and did not tell him when they would be entering his property for maintenance.

"In spite of Patrick saying he wanted to meet within days ... it is all still up in the air. They want to put the cart before the barrow again by doing the work first, and maybe discussing a remedy later," said Mr Meier.

He said the risk of another fire and electrical problems remained on his and neighbouring farms.

Transpower spokeswoman Rebecca Wilson said Dr Strange would be "more than willing to meet with Mr Meier if that's what was needed".

She said the company had held "constructive" talks with Mr Meier's lawyer, Paul Cassin, and that work on the pylons an the Matangi farm was almost complete.

Police confiscated firearms from Mr Meier during the fire. He was accused of blocking access to power company workers, but claims he was not at home when the blaze began.

In another protest, a group of 150 South Canterbury farmers are likely to lock their gates today to prevent Transpower workers entering their land.

They have negotiated with the company for a week, seeking an apology for its treatment of "pylon hosts", and a promise that a commission of inquiry would be opened into historical grievances.

Federated Farmers electricity spokesman Philip York said a lockout was unlikely to disrupt electricity supply in the South Island.

But he said it showed how emotive it was to have a large asset on a property which "you didn't get any dues for".

Transpower said it needed to carry out critical maintenance on the foundations of 20 towers by winter.

Mr York said the tense standoff could be defused if a commission were formed - he has written to energy minister Gerry Brownlee requesting urgent action.

"What irks farmers and landowners alike is that this infrastructure returns a sizeable amount of money to its shareholder but does so off the back of landowners who have no agreement, no easement and apparently, no compensation," said Mr York.

Transpower dealt with landowners individually and had offered easement payments, which some have taken up. Federated Farmers has called for Transpower to consider paying "rent" for pylons on private property, because easement payments did not reflect market value.

State-owned Transpower is investing $5 billion in the national grid over the next decade, much of that to feed energy-hungry Auckland and create secure supply to avoid a repeat of costly blackouts such as in 2006 when the Otahuhu substation shut down.