DOC to appeal Mokihinui decision
The Department of Conservation has today lodged papers with the Environment Court appealing the decision to grant
resource consent for the Mokihinui Hydro Proposal on the West Coast.
Meridian Energy’s proposed 85 metre hydro dam will create a 14 kilometre lake, obstructing the Mokihinui River and
inundating approximately 225 hectares of public conservation land in the Mokihinui Gorge.
DOC opposed the proposal during resource consent hearings arguing the hydro dam, the associated transmission line and
other infrastructure would have significant environmental effects on the river, forests and threatened native wildlife.
DOC says the decision to grant resource consent does not adequately address the Department’s concerns and it is
appropriate to take these issues to the Environment Court.
ENDS