Paper war as TrustPower seeks project consent

The Marlborough District Council may have a paper war on its hands as it gears up to process one of its largest ever resource consent applications.

TrustPower's board of directors has signed off permission to launch resource consents for its proposed $240 million hydroelectricity scheme on the Wairau River.

Spokesman Graeme Purches said it would file the application, likely to consist of thousands of pages of technical data, with the council within a fortnight.

However, it will be some time before public submissions on the project are called for.

Council resource consents team leader John Kennedy said it would have the application peer reviewed before it was put out to public consultation.

The scale of the application meant the council would automatically double the public submission deadline to 40 days and possibly seek a longer period, he said.

TrustPower's application is likely to cover more than 60 types of resource consent approval, including earth works and traffic alterations, and could include as many as 400 separate consents.

The project, which would divert water from the Wairau River through 46km of canals and five power stations, is expected to attract a lot of attention.

- nzpa