| The South Waikato District Council encourages residents to make submissions to Transpower. The Council also plans to make its own submission early in April. While Council reiterates that residents wishing to make submissions need to do so direct to Transpower, it also wants residents to know that they are welcome to forward copies of their submissions to Council for its information. For more clarity on the actual submission process, visit www.gridupgrade.co.nz or call 0800 33 88 66. |
The Transpower issue is contentious. In the interest of preserving the integrity of the system, both from a regulatory stance and from a political stance, Council will be making a submission to Transpower in its own right as an affected party. Council would like to include community views in its submissions where this is appropriate. This should not replace individuals submitting and Council encourages affected parties to make their own submissions.
In the interim Council will be seeking clarification from Transpower on a large number of issues where it feels that insufficient information is available. The SWDC will be acting in collaboration with all the other Councils who are affected by the proposals.
Key dates for the process
| From now to May 2005 |
Opportunity to make submissions on proposed route options (informal non-statutory submission process)
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| May 2005 |
Submissions close |
| May 2005 |
Interim report on preferred route by Transpower |
| End of June 2005 |
Announcement of preferred route by Transpower |
| After June 2005 |
Negotiations with individual landowners to determine centre line within preferred route |
| Late 2005/early 2006 |
Apply to Electricity Commission and local authorities for notice of requirement and resources consents. |
The Mayor of the South Waikato District Council, Neil Sinclair spoke at a recent Council meeting, “We as a Council have the authority to express concerns and will be attempting during the process to communicate with those affected directly, the public and Transpower directly.”
Mayor Sinclair also added, “I do not believe that any of the costs incurred in this process should be incurred by the affected parties, nor by the ratepayers in general. This is a national issue and should be paid for on that level. It is irrelevant whether Transpower or the national government pays. The financial commitment must not cost the people of the South Waikato.”
After a teleconference with other affected Council Chief Executive Officers, the South Waikato CEO, Jeanette Black laid out a few important points:
- It is clear that the regulatory role must be separate from the advocacy role of Council.
- Each Council will need to prepare an individual submission on the route.
- Each Council will need to consider and prepare a submission on the designation (Notice of Requirement).
- Any objections to the Notice of Requirement should be heard by a Joint Hearing Committee of Independent Commissioners.
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