North Canterbury News: August 10, 2023
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Solar proposal alarms residents<br />
By ROBYN BRISTOW<br />
NEWS<br />
The <strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> <strong>News</strong>, <strong>August</strong> <strong>10</strong>, <strong>2023</strong><br />
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Anotherlargescale solar farm is<br />
being proposedin<strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong>.<br />
Local Waipara residents have taken<br />
to socialmedia to express their alarm<br />
withthe prospect asolar farm could be<br />
established on a<strong>10</strong>0 hectaresite<br />
alongside State Highway 7, to the<br />
north west of thetownship.<br />
The callhas gone out on social<br />
media to let the Hurunui District<br />
Council’s planning department know<br />
whatthey think of any such proposal.<br />
The council has not receiveda<br />
resourceconsent application for a<br />
solar farm.<br />
Council’s Chief strategyand<br />
communityofficerJudith Batchelor<br />
saysthere had been ‘‘discussions<br />
quite sometime ago’’.<br />
But saysitis‘‘speculation’’ about<br />
whatmight be applied foronthe site.<br />
Landclearance works appear to<br />
havealready startedonland on the<br />
Waiparaflat, alongside StateHighway<br />
7, with large trees being felled.<br />
One longtime resident,and a<br />
pioneerofthe now burgeoning wine<br />
industry in theWaipara Valley is<br />
distraught.<br />
JohnMcCaskey says the land has<br />
never been disturbed since the ‘‘days<br />
of the moa’’.<br />
He is calling on the area to be listed<br />
as aSignificant Natural Area to<br />
preserveitasvirgin ground.<br />
Mr McCaskeysays the intrusion of<br />
foreign investorswanting to establish<br />
the solar farm is ‘‘making the locals<br />
blood boil’’.<br />
‘‘Winegrowers in particular will<br />
havesome seriousconcerns,’’ he says.<br />
‘‘Itisobvious that the promoters<br />
haven’tstudiedthe climatehistory of<br />
the area, let alone its vulnerability to<br />
drought and fire.’’<br />
Aresident said on social media she<br />
has heard the developers are an<br />
Aucklandbased company, whichgot<br />
Solar power ... Asolar farm in Winton, Queensland.<br />
under way withits firstlarge scale<br />
solar development in 2021 —Pukenui<br />
Solar Farm.<br />
There were few detailsavailable,<br />
she saidonthe local Facebook page,<br />
‘‘but as well as the work on SH7 it may<br />
include expansion at the Waipara<br />
substationtoenable grid<br />
connectivity’’.<br />
Otherssay they willbe‘‘squished’’ in<br />
between awind farm—being built on<br />
Mt Cass to the east of Waipara—and a<br />
solar farm,not to mention the regional<br />
landfill at Kate Valley, to the east of<br />
the township.<br />
The glare from the solar panels<br />
would be ahindrance formotorists on<br />
PHOTO: FILE<br />
State Highway 7, and the farmwould<br />
be unsightly, they said.<br />
The proposal follows on closely from<br />
aproposal nearSefton,north east of<br />
Rangiora, by an Australian company,<br />
Energy BayLtd.<br />
It is proposingasolarfarm on an 80<br />
hectaresite on the corner of Beatties<br />
and UpperSeftonRoadsatAshley.<br />
Waimakariri District Council<br />
planning manager, Wendy Harris, said<br />
in May this year,there was no active<br />
consent application lodged with the<br />
council.<br />
Aresource consent was requiredfor<br />
asolar farm and none had been<br />
granted.<br />
Vandals cause huge damage<br />
By SHELLEY TOPP<br />
Vandals believed to be driving 4WD<br />
vehicles have torn up newly sown grass<br />
on unfenced land being developed by<br />
Daniel Smith Industries near<br />
Rangiora Airfield.<br />
The vandalism is similar to ongoing<br />
damage being done to Waimakariri<br />
District Council owned land, says the<br />
council’s general manager of<br />
community and recreation, Chris<br />
Brown, and ratepayers are footing the<br />
bill.<br />
‘‘It is areal shame when amenity turf<br />
and other sensitive areas are damaged<br />
by vehicles,’’ he says.<br />
‘‘We get this at times on our sports<br />
fields, neighbourhood reserves and in<br />
the sand dunes on the coast. Iamnot<br />
sure that all those who cause the<br />
damage are aware of just how much it<br />
costs to undertake repairs,’’ he says.<br />
‘‘It is expensive to repair but further<br />
to the financial burden, is the impact<br />
that it can have on wildlife in sensitive<br />
areas.’’<br />
Although bollards ‘‘generally<br />
protect’’ councilowned sports grounds<br />
and neighbourhood reserves from<br />
vandalism, the cost of installing them<br />
is expensive and places another<br />
unwanted burden on ratepayers' funds.<br />
The council is responding to the<br />
problem by working with police in<br />
cases where they have been able to get<br />
licence plate numbers of the vehicles<br />
involved.<br />
‘‘We are also increasing our camera<br />
network with better quality cameras<br />
which can in some instances be moved<br />
to problem sites,’’ Mr Brown says.<br />
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