You really do have to wonder with this government if the left hand knows what the right hand is doing. They axed our lucrative oil and gas industries, citing the fact that they want to concentrate entirely on renewable energy sources. New Zealand is already a great place for this, with the majority of our electric power coming from hydro sources. The government is also pushing hard for people to take up driving electric vehicles, introducing plans to make the government fleet consist entirely of EVs, and proposing significant discounts for the purchase of EVs, compared to gas-guzzling petrol and diesel vehicles.
Then yesterday, David Parker axed a planned hydro scheme in Waitaha, in Westland.
The Government has declined a hydro-scheme that would have tamed a ferocious stretch of water known as the “Mt Cook of rivers”.
The $100 million scheme would have generated enough electricity to power about 12,000 households.
Westpower, a 100 per Cent community-owned company, had applied for a Department of Conservation (DOC) concession for the scheme on the Waitaha River in Westland, one of the country’s most spectacular and untamed landscapes.
The final decision rested with Minister for the Environment David Parker, who declined the application despite DOC granting approval in principle.
Westpower chairman Mike Newcombe said the decision has “shattered West Coasters’ ambitions for the sake of environment interests”.
The Mokihinui Dam was the same story. It would have been situated in a pristine river where nobody ever goes, except a few kayakers. The kayakers won the day, and in 2012, the plan was cancelled. Now, the same thing has happened again.
“We are utterly stunned by this decision. West Coast interests and long-term benefits have been swept aside,” Newcombe said.
He questioned the Government’s commitment to regional economic growth and addressing the significant threats from climate change through renewable energy projects.
Yes. It would have been a good project to commit some of Shane’s $3 billion that he can’t seem to spend, along with providing a new source of renewable energy in a place that needs the investment. But no.
“It certainly seems so when a great opportunity to create a renewable energy project and enduring benefit for the community and broader region – developed through more than a decade of planning and consultation – has been knocked back in capitulation to minority interests intent on locking up the West Coast forever to the detriment of the local community.”
He said the proposal was for a “run of the river” hydro scheme that would have offered West Coasters increased energy supply, reliability, self-sufficiency and ultimately resilience in the event of a natural disaster.
It would have provided jobs and increased business confidence as a result of a more reliable and cost-effective energy supply, he said.
“We put up a proposal that ticks all the boxes: renewable, sustainable energy, long-term regional economic development boost, careful environmental stewardship – and yet it was declined. It is an alarming decision not just for the Coast but for regional New Zealand.”
And David Parker is heralded as a champion of New Zealand business? Don’t make me laugh.
Environment Minister David Parker said the application was declined because establishing the power scheme in this location would have significant impacts on the natural character of the area, the intrinsic value of the area and people’s enjoyment of it.
Yep. Same as Mokihinui. About 3 people go there every year, and only in the summer.
He said by law he was not allowed to take economic impact on the Coast into consideration.
Which just shows how badly this law needs to be repealed. He is ONLY allowed to take into consideration the environmental impact, so the project never would have gone ahead, come hell or high water (pun intended). Exactly why he allowed everyone to waste so much time and money when the outcome was a foregone conclusion is a total mystery.
West Coast Labour MP Damien O’Connor said he was “disappointed from a local perspective” and Westpower were proven to be responsible environment managers.
It is your government, Damien. Putting the interests of a few kayakers ahead of jobs and prosperity for your own voters is a risky strategy.
Westland mayor Bruce Smith said he was “gutted” with the decision.
“I am completely in disbelief. I read the reports the Minister relied on and can’t see anything useful in making the decision. I look at it from Westpower’s point of view which is owned by the West Coast community. They spent $2m and 10 years on this thing that would have made us self-sufficient in electricity. If we want economic growth we need to be self-sufficient,” he said.
“It’s not good for the West Coast economy. It’s just another move by this Government to lock up the West Coast as a playground for others.”
Fewer than a dozen people have successfully paddled the Morgan Gorge, the most challenging part of the river, and no-one has traversed its entire length.
Stuff.
So as the demand for power increases exponentially, as a result of a growing population and increased power usage for things like electric cars, what will we do?
We will end up using coal-fired power stations. That’s what we will do.
Smart move for the environment and the country’s emissions, David Parker. Another senior minister joins the ranks of the idiotic and incompetent in this government. The list is growing very long indeed.