Contact Energy has proposed to build a 55-turbine wind farm in Slopedown, near Wyndham and was going through fast-track legislation to get consent approval. A decision was expected on December 19 but is now due on February 19.
The fast-track proposal led to the establishment of a three-person panel who invited submissions from different parties.
It had set a timeline for the process but has now decided to move the decision to February.
The process involved conferences between expert witnesses who would come up with agreed statements.
Contact Energy, though, was worried about the haste of some of the witness statements and said in its latest statement it held concerns ‘‘that the panel appears to be rushing to its decision’’.
It had previously wanted the decision delayed until this year.
It now has its wish. The legislation is supposed to have the process carried out in six months but can extend that by up to 50 working days.
However, Contact Energy is not still satisfied. In a note after the delay was announced, it said the panel should make use of the time remaining to have conferencing between the expert planners.
The power company said conferencing between experts had not yet occurred and the panel was likely to be assisted by the technical information on ecological and landscape matters, in particular, being evaluated.
Contact Energy said if that was not able to be done in the timeframe, it suggested the panel’s prospective timetable be lengthened by up to 18 working days.
Some of that time could be used for planning conferencing. It suggested the panel could release its decision as late as March 17.
But the three-person panel is not giving the green light to the conference suggestion — well, not yet, anyway.
Panel chairwoman Clare Lenihan said planner Chloe Tremouth was on leave until January 13 and the panel would like to receive and consider final comment from its technical experts before deciding whether to have an expert planners’ conference or not.
