David Bruce

Former Waitaki mayor Alan McLay and former power company chief executive Keith Turner have set up a company to investigate the potential of new wind farms.

Details of a new power scheme on the Waitaki River and how it would operate with the Waitaki dam were outlined in the Environment Court yesterday by the Meridian Energy.

A major part of the Lower Waitaki River Management Society's challenge against a new power scheme on the Waitaki River came under close scrutiny in the Environment Court yesterday and on Wednesday.

"The lights will not go out" even if a new hydro-electricity scheme was not built on the lower Waitaki River, Oamaru consultant engineer Ken Mitchell told the Environment Court in Oamaru.

The Kakanui Mountains in North Otago are being investigated by a new company for a wind farm to generate electricity.

A new power scheme was "likely to significantly increase" didymo on the lower Waitaki River between the Waitaki dam and Stonewall, something which could not be mitigated, Dunedin environmental consultant Bill Chisholm told the Environment Court yesterday.

Salmon and trout in the Waitaki River will be largely unaffected, by Meridian Energy's proposed north bank tunnel concept power scheme, two scientists say.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) is bottom of the list for processing resource consents on time and Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean has used that to question the future of the Christchurch-based regional council.

New Zealand needs more electricity and a new power scheme on the lower Waitaki River would enhance existing generation in the Waitaki Valley and make it more efficient, the Environment Court was told yesterday.

Construction of a power scheme on the lower Waitaki River could inject up to $350 million into the local economy over the seven years it would take to build it.