MEDIA RELEASE

30 May 2008

100% Pure Vandalism:

Meridian Energy’s plan to destroy Central Otago for profit.

New Zealanders are being hoodwinked into sacrificing their iconic landscapes to self-interested energy corporations, said leading landscape artist Grahame Sydney today.

Sydney is spokesperson for the Save Central campaign, set to be launched nationwide with a full-page advertisement in the Sunday Star Times this weekend. The campaign will alert New Zealanders all over the country to the “environmental vandalism” Meridian Energy plans to exact on Central Otago - renowned for its spacious scenery - should its contentious Project Hayes wind farm be permitted.

“Meridian is building the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest wind factory in what is commonly one of New Zealand’s least windy locations, purely to serve its corporate interests,” said Sydney, adding that the proposed site had been windless for extended periods of time throughout the year.

“We are being told we need vast wind farms because they’re sustainable and we need more power. The truth is they are an unacceptable environmental trade-off and any power they do manage to produce will not be going to power New Zealand homes.”

Save Central is backing an appeal before the Environment Court against Project Hayes, which will resume in Oamaru in two weeks.

“Project Hayes is clearly in breach of the Resource Management Act, because it will destroy a significant landscape, which the Act clearly prohibits,” Sydney explained.

“Meridian argues Central Otago is a wasteland: tell that to the thousands of families that ride the Rail Trail every year. The entire area is a national treasure.”

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