KEY POINTS:
Landowners opposing Transpower's plan to build a string of giant pylons from South Waikato into Auckland fear a board set up to make resource consent decisions will be stacked with politically motivated appointments.
A month of speculation was confirmed yesterday when Government minister Pete Hodgson said the $683
million pylon project would be fast-tracked through the consent process because of its national significance.
The decision on whether the pylon line gets resource consent will now be made by a board of inquiry appointed by Mr Hodgson, rather than by the nine district and regional councils through which the 200km line runs.
The move by the Beehive is likely to speed up the controversial project by ensuring it does not get bogged down in the normal consent process.
Farmers and landowners who have vehemently opposed the pylons are now worried about the potential make-up of the board.
"The process is still there so I don't think that in itself is a real problem," said David Graham, chairman of New Era Energy, an umbrella organisation opposing the new line.
However, he noted the Government had chosen not to reappoint former Electricity Commission chairman Roy Hemmingway after he rejected the pylon project. The commission had then been "stacked with Labour people" and approved the project.
"That's the risk, I suppose, in this process - that the Government takes the independence away and we get a fait accompli answer," Mr Graham said.
The plan to put about 400 pylons as high as 70m through farms and lifestyle blocks has met fierce opposition from affected landowners.
Mr Graham said the three-year battle had taken its toll on those involved, with illnesses, marriage breakdowns and retirements attributed to it.
But those in favour of the line, expected to be commissioned in 2011, said it was needed to ensure the future security of electricity into Auckland.
It is that national significance that caused the Beehive to exercise its rarely used powers to "call in" the consent process.
Mr Hodgson said his move to intervene did not mean the project would be approved but that the decision would "probably" be sped up by months.
He said if the project had gone through the normal consent process it would almost certainly have resulted in people presenting their arguments twice - first to the councils and then on appeal to the Environment Court.
Under the call-in provisions, the board's decision cannot be appealed to the court, although it can be challenged by judicial review at the High Court.
Mr Hodgson said the board was likely to be set up in a few weeks, with a final decision within a year.
National Party energy spokesman Gerry Brownlee welcomed the Government's decision to call in the project, saying it alleviated the stress on councils that would have had to deal with the complex consent application.
But the umbrella organisation representing those councils, Local Government New Zealand, was not as impressed. President Basil Morrison said the decision was "a real disappointment" for the local government sector, which strongly advocated leaving local decisions in local hands.
What's next:
* The pylon project will be publicly notified in a few weeks' time.
* Cabinet minister Pete Hodgson will appoint a three- to five- member board, which will hold public hearings.
* The board's draft decision will be open to comment from councils, submitters, Transpower and Mr Hodgson.
* The final decision will be made by the board.
- additional reporting: NZPA