Residents angry over council backing of Waipara solar farm

Tuesday, 19 May 2026

Hurunui District Council held a five-day hearing on the Far North Solar Farm proposal which aims generate up to 144 megawatts of electricity.

Residents opposed to the proposed Waipara solar farm say they are angry and “flabbergasted” by the Hurunui District Council’s shift in position after it initially raised significant concerns about the project.

A local advocacy group said council planners moved from questioning the lack of information and impact of the project to supporting the granting of consent.

Anger erupted on the final day of hearings for the controversial 181-hectare Far North Solar Farm proposal, before independent commissioners Dean Chrystal and Shannon Bray. The hearings followed a wave of public opposition to the development, with the council receiving more than 150 submissions and about 80% opposing it.

Image showing the size of a proposed solar farm at Waipara, north of Amberley. The section in red has been proposed to be removed from the application, after native vegetation was cleared by the landowner. Photo: Hurunui District Council

Hurunui District Council senior planner Nicola Kirby appeared to soften her earlier stance on the development.

In her written report dated April 17, Kirby stopped short of recommending approval.

“After assessing and having regard to the actual and potential effects on the environment of granting the application, I am unable to conclude or make a recommendation overall on the adverse effects of the proposal,” Kirby wrote.

Kirby had also said further information was still required on landscape and visual impacts, transport effects, glint and glare, ecological effects, and the issue of unauthorised indigenous vegetation clearance.

However, during the hearing, she appeared to move towards supporting the proposal, telling commissioners the application “generally provides the benefits identified” in renewable energy policy provisions.

She concluded by saying the proposal outweighed the concerns, and recommended commissioners grant the resource consent.

Supporters say the project is a major renewable energy investment that would help New Zealand transition away from fossil fuels, but opponents argue the development would industrialise a prominent tourism and wine-growing district.

Waipara Valley Community Collective spokesperson Elizabeth Kelsey says the project proposal lacks vital information.

Waipara Valley Community Collective spokesperson Elizabeth Kelsey delivered an almost two-hour submission outlining detailed concerns on environmental, safety and planning grounds.

Kelsey told commissioners the proposal posed unacceptable risks to the Waipara Valley’s landscape, biodiversity, tourism industry and rural character, while also exposing major flaws in the consent process itself.

“I think definitely angry at the council’s approach,” Kelsey said of her feelings after the hearing. “The council has decided to recommend that consent should be granted, and I think residents are flabbergasted that the council could do that when there are so many problems with this application and so many unanswered questions.”

Central to the hearing was a dispute over whether native matagouri vegetation had been moved from the site, a threshold that could trigger stricter protections under the district plan.

Kelsey accused the applicant of trying to remove the vegetation clearance issue from the consent process altogether.

Her submission argued the proposal underestimated impacts on tourism and rural amenities.

“The consequences of the proposal as a whole and its effects are myriad.”

Weka Pass Railway, another submitter opposing the project, warned the solar farm would become the “dominant view” for passengers travelling on its heritage railway experience and could threaten visitor numbers.

In its submission, the volunteer-run railway said visitors came to experience a “1950s New Zealand rural branch line” surrounded by farmland and vineyards, and warned the development could transform the landscape into what it described as a “modern industrial landscape”.

The proposed solar farm would generate up to 144 megawatts of electricity using roughly 250,000 solar panels across farmland near Waipara village.

The commissioners adjourned the hearing and said they would need time to consider all the information before the applicant’s right of reply. Further directions — and potentially requests for more information — are expected next week before a final decision is made.