Delta Utilities Services says clearing trees and vegetation near power lines between Arrowtown and Lake Hayes is ''essential'' next week, but a resident says the consequent lack of power could affect a young violinist's chances in a $40,000 competition.
Delta is scheduled to control vegetation on the road between the settlements from Monday to Friday as part of its ongoing maintenance on the Aurora Energy electricity network.
Lake Hayes resident Louise Bell said she accepted the work was necessary, but questioned the selection of the dates, which coincided with the Michael Hill International Violin Competition in Queenstown.
Mrs Bell said she was faced with hiring a generator to at least have heating in the violinist's rooms for practising.
''The contestants are billeted in private homes and, not surprisingly, spend many hours of the day practising,'' she said.
''The unseasonal warm weather may well continue but in the event of a cold snap, I feel for contestants who probably unexpectedly have to deal with cold hands.''
Delta asset management general manager Adam Fletcher said the company had to clear vegetation to ensure the reliability and safety of the electricity network and comply with electricity regulations.
Mr Fletcher said trees growing into power lines could cause unplanned power outages, particularly in extreme weather.
''We make every effort to minimise the disruption ... We have worked closely with local businesses to minimise the disruption to their operations, scheduling additional vegetation crews to keep the outage duration to a minimum and organising traffic management.
''We were unaware of individual hosting arrangements for the violin competition and regret the unavoidable inconvenience for local residents and their guests.''
He said if anyone affected by the planned outage would like further information or wished to raise concerns, they could contact him on 0800 4 DELTA.
