A report commissioned by Contact Energy on the ecology impact of the planned Southland wind farm has been panned by a reviewing author, calling it "inadequate" and containing insufficient data.
Contact Energy is hoping to build a large 55-turbine wind farm, just south of the Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm in Southland.
The farm will have a total maximum generation of 300MW.
The site of the project covers about 5500ha, sitting about 15km east of Wyndham.
The project is being considered under the Fast-track Approvals Bill although it has been paused as Contact Energy answers comments from various parties who submitted under the legislation.
The fast-track panel has asked ecologist Mike Harding to provide a peer review of Contact Energy’s terrestrial ecology and wetland assessment, long-tailed bat assessment, freshwater ecology assessment and associated reports.
He said in his report the wind farm was within a part of Catlins Ecological Region and Southland Region which supported large remnants of a lowland-montane indigenous forest ecosystem.
The relationship between the indigenous biodiversity of the wind farm area and that of the surrounding area in an ecological context and the contribution the indigenous biodiversity of the wind farm makes to that wider area are not adequately assessed or acknowledged in the material reviewed for this report, Mr Harding wrote.
"The assessments of ecological significance of the Southland wind farm area and of the potential adverse effects of the proposed Southland wind farm activity are compromised by insufficient data, the significance assessment method, and by use of the Ecology Impact Assessment (EIANZ) guidelines to assess effects.
"Data on mobile/migratory avifauna are insufficient.
"Assessments of the effects of loss and fragmentation of areas of indigenous vegetation/habitat/ecosystem are inadequate."
He said the proposed protection, restoration and enhancement actions would not adequately offset or compensate for the loss and fragmentation of indigenous vegetation/habitat at the wind farm area.
The vegetation mapping — and the described vegetation types — could not be relied upon for assessment of the adverse effects of vegetation loss at the wind farm location, Mr Harding said.
The panel said Contact Energy would have this week to reply to the issues raised by Mr Harding.
