Contact Energy continues to press its claims for its proposed Southland wind farm, saying it wants the remaining time available to the panel to be utilised as productively and efficiently as possible.
It has also flagged there could be a possible hearing, a rarity under fast-track legislation, and hit out at the manner of some panel witnesses.
The power company last week released its reply to comments from submitters to the proposal, saying the wind farm was very much needed in New Zealand, was in the right place, and offered a range of mitigation measures.
Contact was processing the application under the Covid-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020.
The aim was to have the decision within six months of the panel starting and Contact was keen to keep the process going.
"Contact wishes to work closely with the panel, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), and other participants in the process to ensure the time available to the panel is utilised as productively and efficiently as possible," it wrote in its latest memorandum to the panel.
"Counsel understand from the EPA that the decision date currently anticipated by the statutory timeframes is 18 November 2024, although the panel has the power to extend that by up to 50 working days."
Contact Energy also criticised some of the authors of peer reviews ordered by the panel.
It said in the ecological review of the joint witness statement produced after the outcome of witness conferencing that it was not clear that the witnesses for the panel had read or reflected on the evidence from the Contact Energy ecology advisers Wildlands.
"With respect, the contrast between the landscape and visual joint witness statement and the ecology joint witness statement is stark, in terms of the constructive nature of the discussions, narrowing of matters in issue, and identification of potential further analysis to seek to narrow matters further."
It pointed out Wildlands ecologists had spent 950 hours surveying, mapping and assessing the wetland and terrestrial ecology values at the project site.
It also noted there has been talk of a hearing taking place, writing to the panel asking when the hearing would be and what the scope of it would be.
An EPA spokeswoman said there was no requirement for a panel to hold a hearing.
In its discretion, a panel could hold a hearing involving the applicant and any person commissioned by the panel to write a report.
One hearing has been held under the Act — the Whenuapai Business Park application, which was ultimately declined by the panel.
The spokeswoman said the consenting panel had not confirmed if it will hold a hearing.
