Locals upset by wind farm plans

The idea of 168 new wind turbines along the coast between Port Waikato and Raglan has not found favour with some locals. File photo / NZ Herald

Raglan locals are upset over plans by Contact Energy to build 168 wind turbines on the coast between Port Waikato and Raglan.

Owner of the Solscape eco-retreat near Raglan, Phil McCabe, says he opposes the project because rather than building more wind farms, we should be focusing on reducing electricity consumption.

He says modern appliances such as heat pumps are driving the demand for energy.

"We've never had before in New Zealand the opportunity to cool our homes down," he told Newstalk ZB. "We've never needed it and that's a new thing that New Zealanders are probably getting used to, but it's putting further demand on our energy infrastructure."

Phil McCabe says the proposed wind farm would also ruin what a pristine 34km stretch of coastline which is unique and untouched.

"From the coast where I live we cannot see a single human structure up that coast and there's going to be 150m tall wind turbines dotted around the coast."

Phil McCabe says rather than building more wind farms, we should be focusing on reducing electricity consumption.

- Newstalk ZB