Final Report and Decision of the Board of Inquiry into the Turitea Wind Farm Proposal
In August 2008, Mighty River Power Ltd lodged resource consent applications to construct, maintain and operate a wind farm in the Turitea Reserve and adjoining farmland near Palmerston North. The Minister for the Environment, Hon Nick Smith, called in the applications and referred them to an independent Board of Inquiry.
The Board of Inquiry has released its final report and decision on the Turitea Wind Farm Proposal.
The Draft Report was released on 11 February 2011 with comments on this report being extended to 60 working days at the request of MRP. All parties were also given the opportunity to make any final comments on a number of matters raised in MRP’s comments on the Draft Report, in particular on the National Policy Statement on Renewable Energy Generation and MRP’s request to reinstate and/or add up to 12 turbines over and above the number decided on by the Board in its Draft Report decision. All of this resulted in an extended period between the time of the release of the Draft Report and the publication of this Final Report.
Report by chapter:
Chapter 1: Introduction (PDF, 175 KB)
Chapter 2: Turitea's Wind Resource (PDF, 114 KB)
Chapter 3: Climate Change and Variations in Weather Patterns (PDF, 116 KB)
Chapter 4: The New Zealand Electricity Market, Project Economics and Alternatives (PDF, 198 KB)
Chapter 5: Wind Farm Infrastructure (PDF, 155 KB)
Chapter 6: Rainfall (PDF, 125 KB)
Chapter 7: Palmerston North City Water Supply (PDF, 164 KB)
Chapter 8: Terrestrial Ecology Of The Reserve (PDF, 265 KB)
Chapter 9: Disposal of Surplus Soil (PDF, 137 KB)
Chapter 10: Avian Ecology (PDF, 198 KB)
Chapter 11: Public Opinion Surveys (PDF, 132 KB)
Chapter 12: Landscape and Natural Features (PDF, 211 KB)
Chapter 13: Landscape and Visual Amenity Effects (PDF, 641 KB)
Chapter 14: Traffic Issues (PDF, 177 KB)
Chapter 15: Noise (PDF, 230 KB)
Chapter 16: Health and Safety (PDF, 143 KB)
Chapter 17: Cultural (PDF, 195 KB)
Chapter 18: Planning Instruments (PDF, 568 KB)
Chapter 19: Part 2 Matters (PDF, 158 KB)
Chapter 20: Conditions of Consent (PDF, 160 KB)
Turitea Wind Farm Resource Consent Conditions (PDF, 4.38 MB)
Membership of Board of Inquiry (PDF, 213 KB)
Glossary (PDF, 28 KB)
Appendix 1: Relevant Legislation (PDF, 118 KB)
Appendix 2: Turitea Wind Farm: Appearances (PDF, 90 KB)
Appendix 3: Board Memorandum dated 30 May 2011 (PDF, 839 KB)
Appendix 4: Location Plan (PDF, 1.44 MB)
Appendix 5: Notified Proposal (PDF, 1.13 MB)
Appendix 6: Redesign Site Layout – February 2010 (PDF, 1.38 KB)
Appendix 7: MRP Redesign – June 2011 (PDF, 2.15 MB)
Appendix 8: Board Decision and Approved Layout (PDF, 2.10 MB)
Last updated: 6 September 2011
