The Hurunui District Council has notified a resource consent application from Auckland-based Far North Solar Farm Ltd to build near Waipara, north of Amberley.

At its peak The farm's 250,000 panels would generate up to 144 megawatts, enough to power an estimated 30,000 homes.

The Waipara Residents’ Association wrote to the council last year calling for the consent to be notified, and chairperson Steven Ellis says he is pleased the community will have a say.

He says there are a range of views in the community.

‘‘Everyone has their own views one way or the other for different reasons.

‘‘Some can’t see a problem and there’s others who think it is not a good situation to have a solar farm this close to a village.
‘‘It is obviously going to be something quite substantial.’’

Mr Ellis encouraged residents to have a look at the application on the council’s website and form their own view on how it might effect them and ‘‘whether it is a good thing for the community or not’’.

A group of concerned residents formed Save Waipara Valley last year and set up a website, savewaiparavalley.com.

Save Waipara Valley founder Lizzy Kelsey urged concerned residents to make a submission.

"Such a large-scale industrial development has no place so close to homes, or in our flourishing tourism district," she said.
Among the group’s concerns are the potential impacts on the environment, how the solar panels would stand up to ‘‘North Canterbury's notoriously strong winds’’, the risks to passing motorists from glare from the panels and the impact on property values.

Hurunui District Council staff have determined ‘‘the adverse effects of the application’’ to the landscape and the visual effects are more than minor.

Construction of the solar farm is expected to take around two years.

The proposed solar farm is a joint venture between Far North Solar Farm Ltd, a solar energy asset developer based in Auckland, and Aquila Clean Energy Asia Pacific, a clean energy platform headquartered in Singapore.

Submissions close on Thursday, July 24.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.