Mod 2 - Extend Lapse Date

Wellington is a small country town with a large amount of people being on some sort of government benefit. For economics and sustainability the township is reliant on the investment of an industry/ service provider for job opportunities. This injection of opportunity by a credible industry will go a long way in boosting the local economy and provide some permanent employment into the struggling community. Development of a key industry may well boost the moral of the whole Wellington area if an extension could be given to ERM Power to build the Wellington Gas Fired Power Station.

On behalf of our organisation I am lodging our support for the modification and extension of time of five years for the power station approval.
In light of the current economic situation of the district we think it is imperative that the project goes ahead when the demand for electricity improves.
Obviously it will be a must needed boost for Wellinton and district and also providing employment for locals.
Having to submit another application would cause unesessary long delays and expense.

I object to the Modification to the Project Approval No. 06_0315 Wellington Gas-fired Peak Power Station. This power station would have detrimental effects on those living close to this station in particular the noise. The noise guidelines are not stringent enough to protect our community. The devaluation of real estate in particular to Mount Nanima and Keston has not been taken seriously enough. The Heritage study does not include enough information regarding the Heritage listed home of Mount Nanima. It states that this home is of "highly significant" but no one in the Dept. of Planning are prepared to protect it.

This project has been in planning phase since 2005. If it was truly a project of state significance, surly it would have proceeded by now .... we are now 8 to 9 years down the track. This is clearly NOT a project of state significance.

The fact is; demand for electricity has declined since 2005. The supply of gas for this project is an issue, gas supplies are limited, and the proponent has other more profitable strategies to pursue and is not in a financial position to fund this project.

Me and my family have been living with the uncertainty of this project since 2005 and it is totally unreasonable for us to have this continue until 2019. This has been an extremely stressful situation, now with no end in sight, and no recourse.

My residential home is within 800m of this proposed development. Since the original approval was granted for this project, the government has indicated that wind farms should not be located within 2km of residential homes, yet this project is proposed to be built within 2km of numerous homes within the Wellington township. There does not appear to be any consistency in approach between approvals for wind farms and approvals for gas fired power plants and location from residential homes. This is outrageous.

The original approval for this project was made without any consideration of the fact that I own title to land that will be impacted by the footprint of the project. The proponent has refused to disclose this significant issue to the Department of Planning, and there has been no conclusion between parties as to appropriate purchase price, compensation and transfer of title for this land. Discussions have been focused on land locking my parcel of land, so as to render it un usable, without any reasonable compensation. The approach to date from the proponent has been unconscionable.

It would be appropriate to undertake a more up to date environmental impact assessment for noise and visual impact issues given the significant time that has elapsed since the original proposal that was advocating different technology, size and number of stacks, and ignored sound related issues at residential homes in close location to the project. The mitigating strategies proposed by the proponent were not appropriate or feasible and the Department of Planning needs to reassess these issues before any new approvals are granted.

Regards

TransGrid appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Modification Request for the Wellington Gas Fired Power Station (MP06_0315 MOD2).

In this instance TransGrid does not wish to provide specific comment in relation to the Modification Request.

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