Smith Nick: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Smith Nick: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:607;Page:4335] 
10.  
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (NZ National—Nelson) 
 to the  
Minister of Conservation 
: Will he support the proposal by the Wellington Regional Council to use the Belmont Regional Park consisting of Department of Conservation Hutt City and Wellington Regional Council reserves land for a wind turbine electricity generating station? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER (Minister of Conservation) 
: 
 As yet there is no application to use the reserve land in the Belmont area for wind generation. Any such application would be given due consideration when it is lodged. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Why did the Minister before any application had been received point-blank refuse to consider the Dobson hydro project on the West Coast saying he had “no intention of entertaining the idea because reserve land was sacrosanct” when in his primary answer he said something quite different; is it because this Government is prejudiced against the West Coast and has a politically correct view of wind power and a different view of hydro power? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: The two cases are quite different. Much of the area that would have been affected in Card Creek lies within an ecological area. The House may have forgotten but I am sure that the member has not that when he was the Minister of Conservation he substantially increased the ecological area of Card Creek. 
Mahara Okeroa 
: Have any significant electricity generation projects been approved by the Department of Conservation? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: Yes permission was given by the department for works in Fiordland National Park associated with the construction and operation of a second tail race tunnel at Manapouri resulting in a major increase in power production from that large hydro station. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Is the Minister aware that the ownership of the Belmont Regional Park is spread between a number of agencies including those mentioned in the primary question but that it also includes farmland owned by Landcorp as it used to be called—I am not sure what it is called now—and does that complicated ownership pattern have any impact on the way in which any application for a wind farm will be assessed? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: Yes I recently wrote to the member upon receipt of a letter from him explaining the very complicated mixture of tenures located within that park and the fact that the Wellington Regional Council will have to review management of the area in 5 years’ time. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Given that the two generating stations are both 70 megawatts that the Belmont Regional Park would use a substantially greater area of reserve land than the Dobson proposal and that 85 percent of the West Coast is reserve land as compared with only 16 percent in Wellington will the Minister reconsider his point-blank refusal given the electricity crisis that we now have rejecting the Dobson hydro project? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: Surely I do not need to remind the member that as yet we have absolutely no application for wind generation in Wellington. As far as the Dobson conservation area is concerned it is quite a different matter. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I seek leave to table two documents. The first is a report in the newspaper stating: “Carter says no to power scheme”. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is. What is the second document? 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: The further document that I wish to table is the proposal for a wind-power generating station on reserve land here in Wellington. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.