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WEL Networks – Te Uku Wind Park Appeals Settled – November 2008 All appeals against the 28-turbine wind park at Te Uku, near Raglan, have now been settled or withdrawn, clearing the way for the project to proceed. As noted in the Bulletin in July ("Te Uku Wind Park Project – consents granted"), Simon Berry and Jen Vella have been acting for WEL Networks Limited in connection with the proposal which will generate some 80MW of power for use in the Waikato area. That is enough electricity to meet the annual needs of around 30,000 houses. Meridian Energy has recently joined WEL as a partner in the project. Meridian will own and operate the turbines while WEL will own the lines which transmit the power to the National Grid and to the western part of WEL's supply area. Settlement of the appeals followed several weeks of mediation discussions with the appellants. The settlement was an innovative one that involved agreement on a number of measures including the setting up of the Community Liaison Group to enable ongoing communication between WEL / Meridian and the community, a robust procedure to deal with complaints, support to the local community, some localised mitigation and the relocation of one of the turbines. Simon's comments: I am delighted to have assisted WEL obtain its consents and to achieve this settlement. This enables them to obtain certainty and avoid the costs and delays associated with an Environment Court hearing. The Te Uku Project can now proceed at least six months sooner than if a three week hearing, scheduled to commence in February 2009, had been necessary.Coming from a barrister it may surprise some but I achieve more satisfaction from settling a case such as this without the need for a Court hearing as I do from winning in Court. Such settlements can be assisted a great deal by obtaining the Court’s assistance in putting a comprehensive case management programme in place, to enable early identification of key issues and opportunities for resolution. We also made every effective use of a highly skilled independent mediator who assisted considerably in clarifying issues enabling agreement to be reached with the Te Uku locals who adopted a sensible and pragmatic approach to the settlement discussions. Overall, I am very pleased to have been involved in such constructive process and, ultimately, another successful project.
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