Petition calls for halt to hydro plans

Wanaka woman Meg Taylor is firmly against having dams on the Clutha River and has started a petition calling for Contact Energy to drop any proposed hydro-electricity schemes on the major Otago waterway.

Ms Taylor is calling for Contact to halt plans for hydro-electricity dams on the Clutha and is hoping her petition will gather momentum and possibly lead to the formation of a river protection group.

Contact Energy is seeking feedback from riverside communities before a decision is made on whether it will proceed with four potential dams, possibly based at Luggate, Queensberry, Beaumont and Tuapeka Mouth.

Ms Taylor said her petition would be sent to both Contact and also New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

"I wanted to get the ball rolling to try and gauge the interest in the local community. Contact is calling for feedback on their website, but it is also about taking a step up to get the message across," she said.

Ms Taylor has already written to Mr Key - in his capacity as Minister of Tourism - to point out the potential detrimental effects that dams could have on Upper Clutha communities if Contact proceeds with their Luggate and Queensberry options.

"Any flooding [from potential hydro-electricity lakes] could impact on many of our district's important recreational [and] scenic values, and tourist features," she said.

A letter from My Key's office included some encouragement, but acknowledged a decision on the hydro-electricity scheme was still a long way off.

Ms Taylor runs a farm and provides accommodation for visitors at Riverrun Lodge, situated near the confluence of the Cardrona, Hawea, and Clutha Rivers, which she bought in 1996 with her husband, the late John Pawson.

Mr Pawson, a respected businessman, community figure and founding chairman of the Upper Clutha Tracks Trust (UCCT), died in a climbing accident on Mt Aspiring in November last year.

A walking track connecting Albert Town to Luggate, which the UCCT is behind, is one of many recreational features which would be affected if dams were built and the river flooded, she said.

She started her petition two weeks ago because "something John and I were big on was about making things happen. Doing something as opposed to talking about it," she said.

Copies of Ms Taylor's petition can be signed at various locations, including the Lake Wanaka i-Site building, Mitre 10, and the Lake Wanaka Centre.

She is hoping to send the petition away by the end of July.