Top Energy keen to talk

Top Energy chief executive Russell Shaw has denied that the company is unwilling to engage with the Peria community over plans to route a new 110kV electricity line through the area.

"I have already met with representatives of the Peria community to listen to their concerns on our proposed route and approach to consultation, and I am happy to continue to meet with small groups and provide updates on our progress," he said.

"Our experience is that large public meetings are unproductive, as individuals often do not obtain the information they would like."

The company had a preferred route but that was not set in stone. "We provide land owners with our preference and work with them to agree a workable solution, including avoidance of wahi tapu and historic sites," Mr Shaw said.

"The land under the agreed line route is then valued and compensation paid to the owner. The compensation payment is, indeed, confidential, as you would expect in any commercial transaction.

"The alternative approach suggested by Mr Wilson is that we ask the broader community where they would like the line placed. Our concern is that land owners would be unimpressed if some elements of the community were to dictate where the line should go, with no recognition of the land owners' own distinct needs, priorities and concerns."

He also rejected the claim that the owners of properties along the proposed route that would not require a pole site were not being contacted.

"This is incorrect," he said.

"We are negotiating with everyone who owns land over which the lines may travel, regardless of whether or not a pole is needed there."

The proposed route, he added, was 800 metres from the Peria School boundary, 1500 metres from the marae and did not cross any pa or other historical sites. The final route was still to be finalised.

"We certainly understand the concern that power lines are an unnatural feature on the landscape," Mr Shaw said.

"Not everyone shares our view that they are a thing of beauty, and there will be opposition to our proposed course regardless of the route we eventually choose. However, the second 110kV line, routed up the east coast, is a long-overdue piece of infrastructure that is essential to the growth, development and social well-being of the Far North, particularly for communities like Taipa and Kaitaia, which have had to put up with a sub-standard electricity supply for decades."