November 08, 2022
Windfarm proposed but who owns the wind?
South Taranaki-based Māori Party MP Debbie Ngarewa Packer says a proposed wind farm off the Taranaki coast raises the question of who owns the wind.
A Dutch consortium with support from the NZ Super Fund wants to put up 65 wind turbines which could supply up to 10 percent of New Zealand’s energy needs.
Ms Ngarewa-Packer says few people at the weekend’s Taranaki Tū Mai festival were aware of the proposal, and a lot more consultation is needed.
She says the promoters may find themselves in the middle of evolving discussions on rights and interests.
“I don’t think that coming out and having big dollars spent on media saying we’re promising hundreds of jobs is the way to go. I actually think they are going to find themselves in a different environment but the first question we’re all saying to each other is ‘he taonga, Tawhirimatua te atua?’ We all know what our whakapapa is,” Ms Ngarewa-Packer says.
She says many people will be skeptical about promises of jobs because of their experiences with oil and gas development.