Dear resident
A lot has happened since I last wrote to you. As you know, the application to construct a wind farm on the northern reaches of the Kaimai Ranges at Tirohia was lodged with the Hauraki District and Waikato Regional Councils in June 2018. It was publicly announced in November and around 220 submissions were received from the public – 57 in support and 157 opposed. Submissions in support talked about the benefits of sustainable renewable energy, positive impact on the environment and economic benefits to the region. Main areas of concern were potential advertise impacts on cultural values, the appearance of the turbines and their impact on the landscape, the sound of the turbines and impact on the ecology of the area. I want to thank everyone who took the time to read our application and make a submission. The detailed submissions gave us a deeper appreciation of concerns. To foster dialogue and explore opportunities to mitigate any concerns, I wrote to all submitters inviting them to meet with me either at the site, in their homes or at a venue of their choosing. A significant number of submitters responded to that invitation and met with me to provide a personal perspective on their support or opposition to the proposal. All meetings were constructive and I want to acknowledge the willingness of those people to devoting their time to learning more about the proposal and, in particular, discussing the potential to reduce the impact of their specific concerns. Next steps Consultation with stakeholders (including iwi) is ongoing and we are hopeful the Hearing will be held later this year. In the meantime, if you have any questions please refer to
With best wishes Glenn Starr CEO Kaimai Wind Ltd
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Community update - November 2018 Dear resident, Kaimai Wind Farm’s proposal to construct a wind farm on the northern reaches of the Kaimai Ranges is finally open for public submission. Read more in attached PDF:
New Zealand's wind power industry is poised to deliver large swathes of power in coming years as the country strives to become one of the first in the world with 100 per cent renewable energy sources.
Click here to read the full NZ Herald article: www.nzherald.co.nz/opus/news/article.cfm?c_id=1504443&objectid=12135637 New Zealand needs to generate up to 65% more electricity in the next 30 years as the economy transitions away from fossil fuels. This is one of the key findings in the Productivity commission's report it has presented to the Government. Read more here: www.productivity.govt.nz/inquiry-content/3254?stage=4 In July, an invitation was mailed to residents living within a 2km radius of the wind farm Kaimai Wind Ltd. is proposing to build on the northern reaches of the Kaimai Ranges at Tirohia. The application for resource consent has been lodged with the Hauraki District and Waikato Regional Councils and will shortly be notified for public submission. Communication about the proposal began in 2005 with the Tirohia, Paeroa and northern Te Aroha communities in relation to the erection of monitoring masts to measure wind speed on the proposed site. This was just the first of a diverse range of studies which have been conducted, over subsequent years, to assess the suitability of the site for a viable wind farm. Insights to that research have been shared over the past two years with public information days, regular community updates and a range of public meetings. However, we were aware that the general nature of these updates may not answer the specific questions of residents who live within 2 km of the wind farm site and its potential effects on the surrounding environment. We wanted to therefore to extend an open invitation to residents to meet with members of the project team in one-on-one meetings to discuss any issues they may have in relation to such things as noise levels and visual impacts. Meeting residents in their own homes has immense value for the project team as it enables us to experience and understand the unique environmental and personal perspectives residents have about the proposal. It also provides an opportunity to discuss any possible mitigations to any concerns. A number of meetings were held with residents during the week of 6 to 9 August and more are planned for mid to late September. If you would like to be involved, please contact Clare Bayly on 027 499 8862. Glenn Starr CEO Kaimai Wind Ltd The past few months have been very busy finalizing the range of studies required for the application to the Hauraki District Council for permission to construct a wind farm on the northern reaches of the Kaimai Ranges at Tirohia. The proposal is an exciting one, aligned to the Government’s drive to develop clean, sustainable and renewable energy sources for New Zealand and we believe it will deliver a range of benefits to the greater Paeroa area. Our priority has always been to consult and engage with the greater Paeroa community – as much to explain the proposal as to hear and understand the concerns of individuals and groups. Consultation to date has been wide ranging and we continue to talk with Iwi and community groups. This website contains up-to-date information about the proposal and we encourage you to read that and, if you have any questions or concerns, share them with us on the contact form. Our understanding of the ecology and potential impact of the wind farm on bird and bat life is being enhanced by additional monitoring in the region, and we have also commissioned site-specific photographs of properties to understand the visual and ‘flicker’ effects of the turbines. At this stage we are aiming to lodge the application in early June. After scrutiny by the Council the application will be publicly declared, giving the public access to the range of reports and opening the opportunity to submit submissions. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. Glenn Starr CEO Kaimai Wind Ltd. I hope 2017 has been a good year for you and your family. It’s certainly been a very busy one for the Kaimai Wind Ltd team with a huge amount of time devoted to meeting with local residents and stakeholders to outline the proposal to establish a wind farm on the northern reaches of the Kaimai Ranges at Tirohia .... (Read more in attached PDF)
Around 50 Paeroa residents attended two information days held in Paeroa on 6 and 7 September to learn about the proposal to establish a wind farm on the northern reaches of the Kaimai Ranges at Tirohia.
Two public information days will be held on Wednesday 6 September 2017 &Thursday 7 September 2017 from 10 am to 3 pm at Positive Paeroa,101 Normanby Road, Paeroa
Kaimai Wind Ltd. has updated the site map - located in the resources page - for the wind farm. It takes into account the reduction of turbines (after talking with locals and the paragliding club) from 26 to 24.
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