Plans for waste-to-energy plant withdrawn from Westport now mooted for Hokitika

Thursday, 18 July 2019

Westland mayor Bruce Smith says the waste-to-energy scheme will boost the region's economy.

A $260 million waste-to-energy plant could be built in Hokitika after regional leaders campaigned to bring the scheme to the West Coast.

The scheme had initially been mooted for the Buller district, but Renew Energy withdrew its plans after it was revealed Buller mayor Garry Howard had signed an agreement with a Chinese investor without telling the public or district councillors. The company also faced opposition from Buller residents when it sought to stockpile rubbish in Reefton.

Renew Energy Ltd representatives Hugh Grey and David McGregor, with Buller mayor Garry Howard in China with China Tianying Inc representatives in the grounds of its Haian Energy from Waste facility, which is similar capacity to the facility that had been planned for Westport, but since scrapped.

Westland mayor Bruce Smith said 'anything this big' would never get 100 per cent support.

The council had held a confidential behind-closed-doors meeting with the company about one month ago, he said.

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It was not 'controversial in any form', Smith said.

'There are 3800 of these worldwide. There is one 4km from the Eiffel Tower [in Paris]. It's not new technology.'

The scheme would increase Westland's GDP by 20 per cent and make the West Coast self-sufficient for power, he said.

Waste-to-energy plants burn rubbish at high temperatures to produce electricity.

Rubbish was already being baled at a Sockburn site in Christchurch, Smith said.

'It's not household rubbish, it's commercial rubbish … It doesn't look any different to a bale of silage. It doesn't leak, or smell.'

Whether the scheme went ahead was not a political decision, he said.

'My role is to provide a welcome mat to investors in Westland to evaluate a proposal and let it run through normal processes.'

Renew Energy independent director Kevin Stratful said there was still a lot of work to be done before the scheme became a reality, including public consultation, resource and building consents.

The New Zealand-based company is expected to reveal its partner in the project next week, and a public meeting about the proposal will be held at Hokitika's Regent Theatre at 7pm next Thursday.

Detail such as sites and partnerships would be revealed at the public meeting, he said.

Former Ratepayers and Residents Group Westland chairman Rex Keenan said meetings behind closed doors and lack of public consultation was a concern.

'I would like to know how much its costing our council to negotiate this deal. We don't even know where it's going to go.

'Hokitika is becoming quite a dirty wee town, in my opinion. The shakers and doers seem to do what they want, when they want.'