Council's Findlay Rd decision 'may not have been the best'
“This could be Martin St, it could be Anglem St, it could be Albert St. Any of those streets - boom - a non-notified 21m pylon in your street."
Invercargill Deputy Mayor Tom Campbell believes “with a bit of hindsight” the council’s call to allow a row of 21m power poles in Findlay Rd wasn’t the best decision.
In July the council granted consent for the 21m poles to carry 66kV and 11kV lines as part of a nearly 20km new route to Awarua.
That has upset the Findlay Rd residents who are in a Residential 1 zone as part of the District Plan.
Those residents believe the 21m power poles outside their homes will devalue their properties.
It prompted Cr Ian Pottinger to firstly challenge staff around the decision to grant consent.
When that move failed Pottinger then lodged a Notice of Motion at a council meeting on Tuesday calling for a review of the city’s District Plan to try to ensure something similar does not occur to other residents in the future.
“I’m purely asking the council to consider, is this the norm we expect for Residential 1, that it is allowed to happen?
“This could be Martin St, it could be Anglem St, it could be Albert St. Any of those streets - boom - a non-notified 21m pylon in your street,” Pottinger said at Tuesday’s meeting.
Campbell supported Pottinger’s sentiments but felt there was already the power in the District Plan for the council to decline consent for those 21m poles in Findlay Rd.
“I don’t think we need to change the District Plan, it’s a matter of judgement,” Campbell said.
“To allow overgrounding on Finday Rd was at the discretion of council officers. But I think you would have to say, with a bit of hindsight, it may not have been the best decision.
“It could have been required to be undergrounded according to the District Plan. We could have required them to underground it, only on Findlay Rd.
“As soon as it leaves Findlay Rd, we have no power to do so. But we could have in Findlay Rd,” Campbell said.
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Cr Trish Boyle also believed the decision to grant resource consent was a case of “bad judgment”.
But she too felt there did not need to be a review.
“We do not need to review the District Plan to make sure that this does not happen again,” Boyle said.
Mayor Nobby Clark was another who believed the Findlay Rd case was not a problem with the District Plan. Instead, he felt it was the provisions of council staff which was the problem.
“The argument could have been made that putting a 21m pole outside a residential property is something that we should go to the community about.
“I understand the impacts of the Electricity Act and how that kicks in once we get down Mill Rd, but Findlay Rd is covered by the District Plan and Residential 1.
“If we are going to stop this happening in the future - given we don’t have any appeal rights on this one - then one would consider how we change our internal policies to make sure - as [Cr Pottinger] quite rightly says - that these things don’t pop up all over the place, as just being the most convenient and cheapest option for the electricity authorities.”
Council CEO Michael Day pointed out there would be a financial impact on the council to carry out a formal review of the District Plan.
Cr Grant Dermody suggested that the matter could be included as part of future planned work around the District Plan.
When Pottinger’s Notice of Motion calling for the review was eventually put to the vote he got the support of the majority of his colleagues and the motion was passed.
Crs Pottinger, Ria Bond, Steve Broad, Alex Crackett, Barry Stewart, Dermody, Campbell, and Mayor Clark all voted in favour.
Those who did not were Crs Boyle, Lesley Soper, and Darren Ludlow.