Summary CLG 010819

Turitea Wind Farm Community Liaison Group meeting Date:

5.30pm, 1 August 2019

Venue:

Manawatu Golf Club, Palmerston North

PAGES:

4

We suggest you read this summary in conjunction with the presentation from this meeting, also available on the Mercury website.

1

Welcome

MARGARET KOUVELIS (Group Chair) welcomed the residents and stakeholders who were in the room, introduced the Mercury team and the contractors, and acknowledged the presence of Janine Rankin from the Manawatu Standard.

Apologies had been received from Anne Hall and Clare Rowe (stakeholders), and Mark Henry, Mercury’s Environmental Resources Manager.

2

Project update

DENNIS RADICH (Generation Development Manager) updated the meeting on project activity.

Transmission line: -

Design of placement of poles and towers finalised, with a reduction from 42 consented to 38, which would reduce impact on the environment, along with lower traffic volumes and a reduction in materials required to build.

Wind farm -

Design continues. A Safety in Design and Preliminary Design workshop had been held Work continued towards mobilisation of site, with work to begin on the Pahiatua Track, widening the road, creating a turning bay and a new entrance to site (to be constructed first)

Palmerston North office -

Office space on the eighth floor of the TSB building on the Square has now been fitted out as a Mercury base in the city. It has views of the range where the wind farm will be built.

Iwi engagement -

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Mercury is in ongoing contact with Rangitaane o Manawatu and Rangitaane o Tamaki Nui a Rua. A private ceremony blessing of the site is planned with Rangitaane o Manawatu.

Looking forward

DENNIS gave a high level update (more detail provided by contractors later in the meeting): -

For the transmission line, work continues to mark out where the towers will be placed, and Geotech work to understand conditions under the ground. The upgrade of Greens Road (as consented) will also take place QUESTION: a member of the meeting asked whether they would be notified before work begins at Greens Road.

KEVIN SMALL (Electrix) said that engineering design work was under way. That would be reviewed by Council with

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view to work beginning mid September at earliest. Parts of roading works were weather-dependent, and a warm dry spring would mean work could be underway. Signage would go up in advance advising dates for the works.

QUESTION: a member of the meeting asked whether the planning around this roading had taken into account the horse riding and cyclists who used this road. KEVIN responded that all horse riders and cyclists would be safely managed through the site.

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DENNIS continued the update – Linton substation, where works were largely confined within Transpower’s site, work was also under way.

4

Construction Management Plans

MASON JACKSON (Consents & Compliance Manager) said that a number of management plans are required to be prepared and submitted to the relevant Councils for certification prior to construction commencing. Mercury has submitted two Construction Noise Management Plans for certification - one for the wind farm and one for the transmission line, reflecting the different noise profiles each of these project components have. The plans were loaded to the Mercury website (here) and the email distribution list had been notified of this so that feedback could be made.

MASON showed a table (at slide 5) where construction noise limits were described. For example, on week days from 7.30am to 6pm the maximum construction noise level was 70dBA Leq, roughly similar in noise output to a typical office environment.

Mason confirmed that the limits apply to noise levels measured at dwellings.

The table’s right-hand column had dBA Lmax limits, and Mason explained that these are a separate limits that apply to the maximum instantaneous construction noise level associated with bangs or clangs, as opposed to averaged construction noise.

Vestas has modelled noise from different types of construction activities to occur on the wind farm site and predicted the amount of noise likely to be produced at people's houses (slide 6 of the presentation shows the worst case construction activity clearing and vegetation removal). Modelling shows construction noise limits are easily complied with at local rural dwellings.

The noisiest part of constructing the transmission line will be when helicopters are used. This includes construction of poles 17 and 18, and potentially 9 and 10 (see pole positions on slide 7), along with towers located in thick bush in the Turitea Reserve and on the eastern side of the access track in the Reserve. Modelling showed noise from the helicopter flight path generates noise levels of 70dBA Leq at around 400m from the helicopter flight path (slide 8). No dwellings are located within 400m of poles/towers to be constructed with helicopters. A helicopter base will be established at Browns Flat to fly concrete and equipment out to site.

QUESTION: a member of the meeting asked whether rural air services would be notified about the presence of helicopters during the project. KEVIN said that Civil Aviation Authority processes would be followed.

MASON said that Erosion and Sediment Control Plans had been produced for the initial wind farm construction area. These provide detailed plans focusing on various controls to be put in place to control sediment on site and minimise impacts on local stream etc. These plans are currently being reviewed by Horizons Regional Council. A walk-through on the land with the Council and its experts forms part of its review and certification process.

ACTION: it was noted that some of the maps and other content on the slides were not easy to read on screen. MASON acknowledged some technical information is hard to present in a meeting room setting, but encouraged stakeholders to look at the slides in greater detail on the website and feed back to Mercury as appropriate.

5

Contractors’ updates

5.1

Vestas (wind farm)

MORAN STARK (Vestas) spoke to slides 10-16 of the presentation.

He noted completed activities included geotechnical investigation at most wind turbine sites, a Facilitated Safety in Design workshop, and Preliminary Design Review.

Planned activities included the establishment of site offices, formation of the new South Range Rd entrance, mobilisation to site and the establishment of site environmental controls.

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A new site entry will be constructed on the straight heading east prior to the right hand turn at the top of Pahiatua Track. This entry would allow construction vehicles and personnel safe access, with a turning bay into the construction.

Traffic management will be in place during construction to ensure safety for construction personnel, community and public.

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A secondary construction access point will be constructed on the east side of Pahiatua Track at the bottom of the range. This access point is primarily for the delivery of 55m long blades to the project, with vehicles travelling from Napier to Palmerston North. This will be a gated/locked construction access road on private land.

South Range Road is seen as the spine of the project as access to wind turbines is predominantly from this road. The road will be straightened and widened, with new culverts and base materials to allow for transport of major equipment to project from new access road/s to approximately 1km past the gate into the Turitea Reserve.

The upgraded road will be integral for the ongoing operation and maintenance of the wind farm and will also allow safer public road access at completion of construction.

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MARTY CRAILL, Project Manager for Downer, gave the meeting some further detail about the roading project. Work will take place initially on the South Range Road entrance, with other roads to access parts of the site fanning out from it (illustration on slides 16-17). Significant work is planned for November when the weather should be fairer. Planning has taken into account local knowledge that had suggested a steady and staged approach due to the changeable weather.

QUESTION: a member of the meeting asked how many workers would be on site, and how many would be local people.

MARTY responded that at the busiest time with teams involved in earthworks, concrete, civil engineering and Vestas’ teams there were likely to be up to 100 people. He confirmed that all Downer’s suppliers with the exception of one team were local suppliers and subcontractors.

MARGARET asked whether there was any plan to offer further employment to local people, and MORAN said that whenever Vestas needed experienced and skilled people, they looked to local contractors and resources first.

MORAN said that once the wind farm was commissioned there would be three full time team members on site, with a further team based at the Vestas offices to serve this and other local Vestas-run wind farms.

QUESTION: a member of the meeting asked whether Vestas was taking on apprentices. DUNCAN WALLBANK (Vestas) said not for this construction phase of the project. DENNIS said that wind farm construction had been stagnant in New Zealand for some years, but with growth in the industry forecast, there is now a potential need to train up new people.

QUESTION: a member of the meeting noted the Interim Climate Change Commission (ICCC) report that had suggested a national target of 100% renewable was not necessary. She asked whether this meant that Mercury was unlikely to build more wind farms in the Manawatu. DENNIS said that Mercury has additional consented opportunities in the Manawatu, to complete a further 27 turbines at Turitea, and to build a further wind farm at Puketoi. He said that we have no plans at Turitea to seek to add more turbines to the existing 60 consented.

QUESTION: a member of the meeting queried that the wind turbines would be visible from town (as noted earlier that they would be seen from the Mercury office). DENNIS confirmed that the turbines would be visible from many places in town (as are the existing wind farms), but that the viewshaft up Fitzherbert Avenue to the Turitea Reserve itself was clear of wind turbines in agreement with the consent.

5.2

Electrix (transmission)

KEVIN SMALL (Electrix) spoke to slides 18-25. He told the meeting that the transmission line design was complete and finalised with a reduced number of poles, and plans were underway with landowners for upgrading or putting in access tracks to do the work on their properties. A laydown area was planned at Browns Flat for partial assembly of some of the poles.

Geotechnical investigation was underway, sampling deep below the ground to understand its make-up in order that foundations could be designed to support the structures above them.

He spoke in detail about Greens Road. This would be used to access poles 9 onward, the Browns Flat staging area and most of the towers, and consent conditions require specified upgrades to this road.

Local companies GHD and Stringfellows will be completing the design and build work and will be engaged to ensure the road is kept swept and any ongoing maintenance is identified.

Kevin noted some possible timeframes for this work: Road condition survey Engineering design Traffic management plan Boundary survey Kahuterawa Rd (line of sight improvements) Tree removal (Greens Rd) Earthworks Sealing and culverts

complete under way under way – review here – inputs please August August/September September September September weather permitting

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He said that the Traffic Management Plan included the possibility that traffic might need to be stopped to facilitate the removal of some trees, and that signage would be used to notify of this.

QUESTION: a member of the meeting asked whether there would be an on-site batching plant. KEVIN said that a batching plant (where concrete was made up) would not be put on site, as there were already local batching plants that could do the work.

MARTY confirmed that concrete for the roading would also be batched locally, off-site.

QUESTION: a member of the meeting asked whether an on-site quarry would be used. KEVIN said that was possible, but would depend on roading and other timings in the project and the suitability of on-site materials.

KEVIN noted that helicopters would be used throughout the transmission build including lifting geotechnical equipment, transporting steel and concrete and erecting some poles and towers. Flight paths would be critical, and landowners would be worked with to minimise any impact of noise on stock. Helicopters would be supplied by suppliers from Whakatane and Eltham.

They would be kept on-site while working, and carefully scheduled to be used for minimum possible time.

5.3

Linton Substation

DENNIS told the meeting that the work on the substation was ongoing, largely within the footprint of the existing substation.

Procurement and manufacturing of equipment was taking place, and would be brought in up Harts Road in the next six months.

6

Feedback received

MASON noted that feedback had been received from a member of the public who had reviewed the Traffic Management Plan on the Mercury website. The feedback was that Turitea Road is part of the Te Araroa Trail and is heavily used by walkers, runners and cyclists. This feedback had been passed to PNCC's Traffic Management Consultant for consideration as part of Plan review and certification process.

MASON said this was valuable feedback, and that Mercury would welcome more feedback on the plans.

The following points arose from a short discussion in the meeting: -

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Greens Road is also part of the Te Araroa Trail and popular with walkers. KEVIN (Electrix) said that this was part of their Traffic Management Plan, and proposed that transport would be offered to walkers to take them past the construction area. It was noted that people setting out to walk the length of Te Araroa might not want to be driven even a short distance, but this would be an option available to them to choose. It was suggested that a resident on the road who had a track on his land available to mountain bikes might be approached to see whether walkers could use that as a by-pass. ACTION: this will be looked into further. [Note: updates will be posted on the trail website https://www.teararoa.org.nz/trailstatus/] On Turitea Road, the first bridge out of town before Harts Road has a blind spot that could be dangerous. ACTION: noted and will be reviewed.

MARGARET suggested Mercury might make clearer the number of local companies and businesses contributing to the wind farm and transmission projects. ACTION: noted.

Future meetings

MARGARET asked is the project on track. DENNIS confirmed that the project is on budget, and while conditions to the consents are still being worked on, this is also currently on track. The weather would be the biggest unknown in the project.

MARGARET said that if the meetings were held quarterly through construction as required by the consent, the next one would be in November. The previous meeting had discussed holding subsequent meetings every two months, meaning that they would be in October and December this year. DENNIS reminded the meeting that the 0800 number (0800 201 520) and email address (turiteawindfarm@mercury.co.nz) were also available for direct feedback. With construction activity beginning this month, face to face meetings were also very good.

ACTION: it was agreed that the Group would meet again in October and December 2019.

MARGARET thanked the residents and guests for attending, and closed the meeting at 6.55pm.

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