In 2014, Westpower – the
electricity lines company on the West Coast of the South Island
– applied
to the Minister of Conservation for concessions to build a
20MW
hydro generation scheme on the Waitaha River, a pristine
conservation area about 40km south of Hokitika.
In May 2015, Tony carried out an independent
assessment of the proposal, with a particular focus on
the Westpower’s reasons for the scheme and its financial
viability. Among the interested parties, Whitewater New Zealand
provided under a
covering letter quite detailed hydrological
analysis and other
information.
In September 2015, Westpower responded
to Tony’s report. In 2016, DOC recommended approving
in principle Westpower’s application. Tony further
rebutted Westpower’s claims in his memo
to DOC in the context of their 2016 public hearings.
This issue gained some public profile with
in-depth articles by The
Listener and New
Zealand Geographic. Tony contributed to a video
made by Whitewater New Zealand, which accompanies another
video
showing the grandeur of the Morgan Gorge and surrounding environment.
Tony also contributed articles [here
and here]
for Forest & Bird.
In 2018, Tony sent a letter
to the Minister for the Environment (David Parker), who had
become the Minister responsible for the issue, and made a
further
submission to DOC.
In 2019, the Minister declined
Westpower’s application and having taken into account
DOC’s ‘Decision
Report’.
