Meridian Energy Limited applied to the Buller District Council and West Coast Regional Council in December 2007 for the 34 resource consents related to the Mokihinui proposal, which plans for the construction of a hydro dam and power station 3km upstream of the township of Seddonville, 4 km north of Westport in the Buller district. The dam would create a 14km long and narrow lake reaching back 500m eastwards of Specimen Creek in the Mokihinui Gorge.
The transmission line would traverse 28km southwards across the Stockton Plateau to a new substation to be located at Cedar Creek in the upper Waimangaroa valley.
A hearing committee decided to grant consents 2:1, but the 34 consents awarded come with over 200 conditions.
News of the resource consents has however dismayed conservationists who are concerned about possible environmental impacts from the scheme. The decision to approve the scheme is likely to be appealed to the Environment Court.
