Perry Edwin: Wellington Regional Council (Water Board Functions) Bill — Third Reading 
Perry Edwin: Wellington Regional Council (Water Board Functions) Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:624;Page:19273] 
EDWIN PERRY (NZ First) 
: 
 New Zealand First supports the third reading of this Wellington Regional Council (Water Board Functions) Bill. On behalf of my colleague Jim Peters who sits on the Local Government and Environment Committee— 
Government Member 
: Who? 
EDWIN PERRY 
: Not the Rt Hon Winston Peters; we know who he is—I will go over some key points that he pointed out. Firstly the bill allows for reserved land that had been set aside for water and forestry to be used for energy generation—namely wind power. We just heard from Lindsay Tisch with regard to wind-powered windmills. Of course where I come from in the Wairarapa they are seen on the ranges between the Manawatu and Woodville. Mr Tisch brought up some points with regard to their noise. I have not actually heard them but I have seen them generating power. Just recently in the paper there were reports of some that had blown down—in the country I think—and a point can be made that there is a danger of windmills causing harm. 
The second point Jim Peters brought up was that New Zealand First has had no objections to this bill in its progression through the House but we had an issue with the fact that the bill does not allow any developments to take place without a replication of the Resource Management Act and the normal consent process. 
Thirdly the stated intention of the Wellington Regional Council to provide for wind power is one that New Zealand First believes should be carried out by another agency or entity. We have to ask ourselves whether the regional council should be involved in generating power even though it is allowed to get a third party involved. The issue is whether the future of energy developments is to be one whereby individuals and councils independently set up developments or whether the Government has some overall embracing energy plan that will enable individuals entities and others to be part of the energy framework for New Zealand’s future. As we all know there is a problem with generating power—we have experienced that in the last 5 or 6 years—so there is a future for developments in power generation. But should regional councils be involved in the commercial side of that activity? As Lindsay Tisch said on behalf of National the brunt of some of the costs will be borne by ratepayers. 
In summary New Zealand First supports the bill wishes the Wellington Regional Council well in its endeavours and looks forward to ratepayers and citizens having full participation. That is important. Consultation with and participation by all those involved should be at the forefront of this proposal to generate power. New Zealand First hopes that the Government will address our energy issues within a planned national framework. 
I finish with reference to one point in the commentary: “Council may authorise third-party use of the land for renewable energy …”. I have touched on that in the points I have just made. I think it is important because the cost of generating power is colossal. The council told the committee that because of the high capital cost of developing sites for renewable energy generation it may wish to enter into such arrangements with the electricity industry. Jim Peters’ experience in these issues would have been most helpful to the select committee.