20 August 2010
"The High Court's decision is right for New Zealand" said Fraser Clark, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Wind Energy Association, welcoming the High Court's judgement upholding Meridian Energy's appeal related to Project Hayes.
"The High Court's decision will ensure environmental objectives are achieved at the same time as allowing timely investment decisions. Combined, this will provide us with a low cost, secure and environmentally responsible electricity supply.
"When the Environment Court declined Project Hayes it attempted to consolidate a two step process into a single step, but without the information and decision making levers to do so effectively." The Environment Court had declined consent for Project Hayes, 630 MW wind farm in Central Otago, in November 2009.
"This raised the bar for assessing wind farm and other infrastructure projects to an unreasonably high level. It could have resulted in planning paralysis, as developers would never be able to prove that there is not another, better project than their proposal.
"The High Court's decision returns us to an informed and robust two-step process," says Mr Clark.
"We can first determine if a particular project in a particular location is acceptable through the RMA. And, if it is, it can then be compared to other projects that have also passed the same environmental hurdle to determine the lowest cost option for new generation in the electricity market.
"The High Court's decision to limit the cost-benefit analysis to tangible values is also welcome. Attempts to assess landscapes in dollar terms are a distraction to the fundamental question of how to find a balance between competing landscape and renewable energy values.
"There is still no guarantee Project Hayes will be consented, or even built. But at least a robust decision can now be made about whether it is an appropriate project in its location, rather than second guessing whether its merits are greater than other projects in other locations.