KEY POINTS:
The Minister for the Environment is considering fast-tracking Transpower's proposal to build giant pylons from South Waikato to Auckland.
Here is the latest selection of Your Views:
Isaac (Onehunga)
We do not need anymore ugly pylons littering the countryside. The proposed route for the new lines should have been beside the Main Trunk Railway, not the current one. We need more generation in Auckland, not more pylons. Just look at how the once attractive Onehunga Bay has been littered with pylons zigzaging all over it. These particular lines should be relocated to run alongside the State Highway 20 motorway and not all over the Onehunga foreshore and over the tops of peoples homes in Hillsborough. Build a modern rubbish fired power station out at Wiri, this would then be helping solve two of Auckland's problems in one go.
Steve
Let's go on the other tack and build a nuclear power station in Auckland. Nuclear power is actually safer than most Kiwis think, and as long as we have appropriate safety standards in place we would not have a problem. I think a nuclear power station in a remote preferably ugly (for lack of a better word) location is better than scaring the landscape with hydro dams and canal schemes, and filling up ridges with wind turbines. Plus nuclear power is incredibly cheap, it would solve a lot of our energy concerns. Cars could even cheaply and successfully run on power, with a charge up every few hundred kilometres.
Nuclear power is the way to go!
Mike
Yes, we all know that no one wants pylons in their backyards but this has been about "not in NZ's backyard". We need the power, just like everyone else in the upper North Island. Putting up pylons will not give the power to push up the line - it's not rocket science - NZ needs more generation so why not build it in the area of need? We say yes to modern, clean source of electricity but wasting a billion dollars on monster pylons only for it to become a stranded asset will sour consumers even more. Those running Transpower couldn't give a toss about what is good for NZ and are just satisfying their own egos and desires. If the project stacked up Labour would not have sacked the last Commissioner, loaded the Commission with Labourites then attempted to call the project in. Those of you who don't get it are forgiven for being so naive as to think monopoly SOEs and this government really know what they're doing! The June black out due to lack of maintenance can't really give you that much faith in Transpower being experts in their field. Does how Labour has been operating since re-election show you it really knows what its doing? I think not.
Morrinsville
The pylon proposal should not be fasttracked. The opponents to the 440kVa line want security of supply to Auckland and Northland but not through this monstrosity. It will be a hideous scar on the landscape, it will not offer security of supply as too many "eggs" in the one basket and in line with current growth figures will never be energised to capacity. Therefore due process needs to be followed to allow for thorough investigation or we will all be paying through the nose for our energy requirements and the profit returned to the government by way of dividend from Transpower.
Wise up
Absolutely not - due process is set in place for a reason fasttracking the project circumnavigates the rights of interested parties.
Mama Mia (Auckland)
The only good thing to be said about those ugly pylons is that they could maybe save New Zealand from sinking into the sea.
Steve (Auckland)
It's a pity to read such ill informed views already posted. It's all very well ramming projects through as some suggest but the maybe Marsden should be fired up as there is a redundant 220kV line that goes all the way back to Otahuhu. If the public were well informed that 6 lines of this type are to run up down the country they may have a different view. Transpower's social responsibility is lacking. Houses and land they have bought, have been let to people who put "P" labs into them. It's about time the media got off it's backside and did some investigative journalism, as there are real viable and technically sound alternatives to 400kV that will cost the country less and delivery energy where it's needed within the time frame. This is never reported! For example, security of supply for the North will come from Ngawha geothermal stage 2 to be completed next year. These are all types of projects that negate the need for 400kV lines to built as well as upgraded existing lines (Duplexing) for example at a fraction of the cost or the an HVDC link from Straford to Huntly. All people want is Transpower to embrace new technology not 1950s. Come on media, do your job!
Jackie Julian
Those members of the public arrogant enough to just say "put them through because we don't want to run out of power" should educate themselves - like those of us who living in the communities which will be destroyed by this monster project if it is pushed through have. The reason the Government's panicking and considering a 'call in' is because the project does not stack up. In essence we and the others opposing it have proved that through the process so far. Transpower is an arrogant bully who never intended looking at alternatives - including generation close to Auckland or Northland. Yes, we use power and need a secure supply for Auckland but stringing 70m pylons across the countryside will not bring us that and we will all be paying for it - both in land value losses (which is not be compensated unless you are in a very narrow band for easements) and consumers picking up the tab for decades from now. If Transpower were forced to upgrade existing infrastructure to the latest technology (not 50-year-old technology) then we would have no need for more visual pollution, the likes never seen before, and we (the taxpayers) would save over $400 million dollars! It's a no-brainer!
Elisa Barrett
What are power lines doing among homes? It is long since recognised that high volume power lines cause cancer when in close proximity to homes.
(Do high-voltage powerlines cause cancer?
Studies link electromagnetic fields (EMFs) to illness: www.midtod.com/9603/voltage.phtml)
Though it received scant attention from the mainstream press, a report leaked last October from the US National Council on Radiation Protection said there is a powerful body of impressive evidence showing that even very low exposure to electromagnetic radiation has long-term effects on health. The report cited studies that show EMFs can disturb the production of the hormone melatonin, which is linked with sleep patterns. It said there was strong evidence that children exposed to EMFs had a higher risk of leukemia. This follows on the heels of three epidemiological reports released in 1994. One indicated a tie between occupational exposure to EMFs and Alzheimer's disease. Another suggested a link with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The third study indicated a tie with Amyotrophic lateralsclerosis. Now a surprising new report released in February by physicists at Britain's University of Bristol shows that power lines attract particles of radon -- a colourless, odourless gas irrefutably linked with cancer. In such a small country as New Zealand all those power lines should be underground with reassurances there isn't any EMFs coming up from their location there.
John McCall
And all these anti-pylon people wrote their comments on a computer and guess what powered their computers? Electricity carried by pylons!
Lawrence
No definitely not. Due process (the RMA) exists for a reason - to validate these idiotic knee jerk think big projects that have screwed this country so badly. Think Marsden A & B, Clyde, Manapouri etc.
Is power supply really a problem? Is this transmission line just an excuse to build bigger consumption and therefore more revenue for the goverment owned SOE's? Is there a smarter alternative i.e. stop wasting 40 per cent+ of electricity in unnecessary consumption, stop losses of 30 per cent in transmission by building power generation close to consumption. These questions need to be asked and answered. Huge power reduction is possible by the cheaper installation of solar at home, power efficient whiteware etc. Huge wastage occurs in most businesses - just look around you. Those proponents of this huge wasteful ugly transmission line should first offer their place for a pylon (or consider a wind generator).
Chris MacPherson
No, the consent process for the pylons should not be sped up because this Government is abusing this country's opportunity for due process. The ability to manipulate statute by the incumbent political party has been and always will be the basis for governance in New Zealand. This Labour Government 'dismissed' the head of the Energy Commission, Mr Hemmingway, our 'autonomous' national energy watchdog, because of his decision to turn down Transpower's proposal. He had sound economic reasons for doing so. Government set up this commission to stop exploitation of the public by energy companies and like so many politicians before them are intending to dispense with this and the RMA process because of it's own political agenda. To now propose fast-tracking this process is obscene and once again our elected officials display to its constituents the contempt it has for the public's right to representation.
Pru
Research has actually shown that the radiation that is feared to emanate from these pylons is less than that coming from an electric blanket. The powerlines should go ahead. But, if the Government subsidised photovoltaic collectors for buildings, while that might cost a bit, there would be no need for the pylons anyway, as houses would have enough electricity, and be able to feed their excess into the national grid.
Paul (Melbourne)
Electricity is an essential service. I feel the pylons should travel over their own reserved land and not houses. Is your picture to a correct scale?
Ian Morine
Absolutely yes! We need to get on with these infrastructure projects as quickly as possible to ensure NZ's secure economic future. We also need to stop dithering and procrastinating on these projects and for once, actual get on and do the job. You will always get the naysayers, that goes without saying, but if we listened to them all the time, nothing would ever get done we would truly be a third world country. It's about time I say!
Ray (Whangarei)
Okay, so we all know that no one wants pylons in their backyards (old debate). Every one wants electricity, so where's the problem? Duh. Just go ahead and build the pylons, those that object can find their own source of electricity. The Greens, forget them to, Sue Bradford has shown us how screwed up the greenies are. In the long run who really cares about pylons and such? Every one wants the benefits of a modern and clean source of electricity so why waste time and hundreds of thousands of dollars debating the placement of pylons. The pylons will be built, the cost will sour and the consumers will be paying for the delay tactics and the unwanted consultations with the irked farmers and other land holders. Those in Boffin Central should use the public works act to confiscate the land and get on with the project, or is the red party to weak kneed to do a job they were elected for?
DB (Auckland)
No. I still don't understand why these cables cannot be installed underground alongside SH1. This minimizes impact on the landowners and will make access to the cables easier. Is it cost or just stubbornness? The amount of power we consume, and will continue to grow our usage and needs means that any money spent now will surely be recovered.
Andrew
Here we have a government who is supposedly concerned about pollution (carbon emissions), who then permit the worst visual pollution of all to go ahead (wind turbines excepted) and devastate our countryside with these hideous monstrosities and risk the health of those that have to live and work amongst them. Methinks Benson-Pope would benefit from a quick wire-up to the national grid to set some sense into him!
