The state-owned energy company had fought for six years to build the 176-turbine Project Hayes wind farm.
The company initially won resource consent, but lost it following an appeal to the Environment Court.
Meridian chief executive Mark Binns told Radio New Zealand s
Checkpoint programme on Thursday a High Court reprieve in 2011 put the company in the position of having to revisit the Environment Court to hear the case all over again. That, coupled with the fact that we d have to spend a significant amount more money and the fact that we already have some other alternatives that are more compelling, means it s the best decision for everybody that we shelve the project.
Put simply, says Taylor, the RMA is at the heart of national strategy. Its job is to set the balance between our economic ambitions and environmental limits. That means whatever replaces it will affect everything. Guy Salmon, of Nelson’s “blue-green” think tank, Ecologic – a member of the RMA’s original independent panel 30 years ago – says it could be New Zealand’s true coming of age moment.
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The Resource Management Act: After many patches and revisions, finally time to just replace it. The country might get around the table and figure out how to actually live within sustainable limits. Or, of course, it could all dissolve into the most unholy political bunfight.