A Ridge Too Far - The website of the Mt Cass Protection Society
Please be patient as we develop this site, not all our pages are available in full yet

Between Waipara and the sea the Mt Cass Ridge is an area of Canterbury known to a relative few, mainly trampers, scientists and the like. It is a beautiful landscape of Limestone outcrops, cliffs and regenerating native bush that harbours many rare and endangered native species. To build a windfarm Mainpower plans a 10m wide road with cuts and fills up to 10m high between ridges and gulleys. This and associated pylon bases and gravel/concrete working areas that will destroy 30% of the regenerating naitve bush on the ridge

Wind power is touted as environmentally friendly but probably no other windfarm has been proposed or built on an area of such high landscape and ecological values. We are not opposed to windpower. We are not opposed to Mainpower. But we are opposed to the environmental destruction that will be wrought on this beautiful part of that will happen if this project goes ahead in it's present form.  We believe there are alternate sites in North Canterbury such as that proposed by Meridian at Centre Hill just to the north of Mt Cass but without the same high environmental values that could be developed for wind power.

We are here to give a voice to people opposed to the proposal by Mainpower to build a windfarm on Mt Cass Ridge. We aim to assist and coordinate those opposing the scheme.

News & Events:

June 2010  Now that submissions have closed on the supplemental application for the extension of the proposed windfarm the Hurunui District Council has advised submitters that the application will be referred directly to the environment court.  To remain a party submitters will need to use form 33 from Ministry of Justice website to become what is called a S274 party.  Current parties opposing the Mainpower objection to the original application (i.e. supporting the decision to decline the application) are S274 parties to that application.

 In brief summary some turbines have been removed from the area between Mt Cass and Totara Peak but new turbines are proposed to the south west of Mt Cass on the land under a DoC covenant for the Mt Cass walkway. Some road has been removed from the ridge and a road nows run to the North below the scarp face of the ridge with new roads running up the face of scarp face of the ridge.  

While his proposal reduces some ecological effects of the original proposal it introduces considerable detrimental landscape effects in relation to the face of the ridge and the western end.

To get an idea of the changes here is our indicative simulation of the view from Amberley of the R90 (largest) layout for turbines, the 3 left (western) turbines and the 6th from left are new (N) but there are the gaps to the east of Mt Cass, Other turbine types are smaller and there are more. We aim to make this picture a fair representation but it's up to Mainpower to do proper simulations and in their application they have simulations from other viewpoints.

Even if you were not a party to the original process you can now make a submission and join the legal process. Submissions close at 5pm on Monday 28th June 2010.