Joy and regret in town after Project Aqua decision

By MONIQUE DEVEREUX and NZPA

The jubilation continues for many in Kurow after Meridian Energy's decision to ditch the $1.2 billion hydro scheme.

But for others the end of the scheme means lost jobs in a small community that is already feeling the pinch.

Kurow is the town of 500 people where Project Aqua's construction would have begun. News travelled quickly and Meridian's decision was mainly met with delight.

Some heard it in unusual ways. Resident Lex Cochrane was telephoned by a friend who overheard two businessmen talking about the decision at Christchurch Airport at 3pm on Monday.

"Actually I'm quite chuffed really," Mr Cochrane said.

"I do a lot of jet boating on the river and so I was going to lose a river basically, and I've got a lot of mates who do a lot of fishing. So in that way I'm stoked.

"As for the rest of the community, I would say there will be a lot of happy people but there's probably a lot that will be quite gutted because they thought they would have got some work out of it."

Other residents said the project would have helped the town. The construction had the potential for hundreds of jobs.

At the office Meridian opened in Kurow in December, staff were told of the change of plan on Monday afternoon.

The all-woman team were said to be shocked and distressed by the announcement and loss of their jobs.

Office manager Pip Nicholson did not return the Herald's calls yesterday.

The Kurow Aqua Liaison Committee was set up not to oppose Project Aqua but to make sure the town's residents were treated fairly by Meridian if the project went ahead.

Chairman John Watherston said the community had been under huge pressure.

One couple who had planned to sell their fifth-generation family farm if the scheme went ahead decorated it with balloons yesterday to celebrate.

Tony and Amanda Chapman said Project Aqua would have shaved a quarter off their holding and made it unsustainable.

"We just couldn't take the stress. It's been three years of lawyers, litigation and headaches," Mrs Chapman said.

"We run merino, cows and deer here and we finish everything.

"If we'd lost our border irrigation we wouldn't have been able to do any of that.

"Project Aqua would have turned us into a store farm."

Bruce Parker, president of the Waitaki River Users Liaison Group, was yesterday rejoicing at the news.

The Oamaru business leader and three of his peers studied Meridian's proposal and decided there was no room for a hydro-electric scheme of its size on the Waitaki.

"I'm very pleased. It's a godsend."