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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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