A gold miner has opposed plans for hydro development on the same stretch of the Fraser River he has consents to mine, saying it could cost him up to $20,000 a year in lost income.
Water flows arising from the proposal would render a large portion of his claim unmineable, Phillip Joostens, of Gore, said.
He had Otago Regional Council resource consent until 2033 to operate a suction dredge mining operation in the area and said the hydro proposal would ''conservatively'' cost him $20,000 a year by ''nullifying'' his ability to mine.
Pioneer Generation Ltd has applied to the Central Otago District Council for consent to construct and operate a new hydro scheme on the upper Fraser River, 13km west of Alexandra.
The site is located in the Rural Resource Area.
Part of the site is classified as an outstanding natural landscape and part is classified as a significant amenity landscape.
Pioneer planned a small run-of-river hydro electricity scheme, expected to generate about 6.5MW annually, enough to power 3500 households.
The application, which will be heard on May 12, attracted four submissions.
One said consent should be granted, subject to several conditions, Mr Joostens opposed consent and two submissions were neutral.
The site was upstream of the Fraser Dam, mostly on Earnscleugh Station land, with some components - the weir, power house and part of the pipeline - within the river bed and marginal strip.
The Department of Conservation and the owners of Earnscleugh Station have given their approval to the proposal.
Included in the 439-page application were reports covering civil engineering, hydrology, flora and fauna, a landscape and visual assessment and an archaeological assessment.
District council planning consultant David Whitney has recommended consent be granted, subject to 32 conditions.
He believed the landscape and visual effects of the proposal would be ''adverse but ... no greater than moderate'' and the effect on flora and fauna and on the area's heritage values would be minor.
The positive effects of the proposal included improved access to power as it would be fed into the local grid, economic activity during the construction phase and benefits to the community from the power generation, as the Central Lakes Trust was the sole shareholder of Pioneer.
''In our view the positive effects of the proposal are significant and must be weighed in particular against the adverse landscape and visual effects...,'' Mr Whitney said.
The Fraser River had a long association with irrigation and hydro electricity generation.
A director of Hawksburn Station, Philip McElroy, highlighted concerns about the impact of the proposal on the station's farming operation.
Hawksburn shared a boundary with Earnscleugh station and nearly half its ewe flock lambed next to the Fraser Dam and river or nearby, he said.
Destocking the area would cost up to $70,000 a year in lost income.
