The trust would like to see clearer responsibilities and consent terms for “sludge management, weed management, recreational site management, driftwood disposal, lake access and recreational values, and has asked the Otago Regional Council (ORC) to review the terms and conditions for resource consent in light of these issues.
Trust chairman Duncan Faulkner said the source’s consent every five years had a three-month period to assess the effectiveness of the conditions. That period for this five-year period ends on August 24.
The trust has sent a letter to the council indicating the condition exists, he said.
The letter states that the trust “has long been concerned about the adequacy of Contact Energy’s consent terms, or at least their implementation.
“Given the confusion among all stakeholders about who is responsible for what… now would be a good time to activate that condition.”
The trust recently undertook its largest community engagement yet, asking people to vote on their top priorities for Lake Dunstan, and a first draft of the community vision report was set to be unveiled in July.
“The underlying tone [of the report] is one of frustration, both towards Contact [Energy] and all stakeholders, regarding the lake,” Faulkner said.
The silting and excessive amount of lagarosiphon wouldn’t exist without the Clyde Dam — “the dam from which Contact makes millions and millions of dollars,” Mr Faulkner said.
“All people are asking for is that the lake that was promised to them 30 years ago be delivered as promised.”
Richard Saunders, ORC’s general manager of regulations and communications, said the council had received a request to formally review the terms of consent.
“No decision has been made. Staff are still considering whether to initiate a formal review of the consent terms,” he said.
Boyd Brinsdon, head of the Hydroelectric Energy Division, said the decision was up to the council, but the company would work with the ORC to examine what it would look like.
“We take our obligations to the community very seriously, both in the form of mitigating the adverse effects of our generation activities and in the form of general good business conduct.”
Mr Brinsdon pointed to Contact’s removal of driftwood, lake bottom monitoring, water well access, safety signage, archaeological monitoring, management of lake bottom levels at Bannockburn and Lowburn, and his financial contribution to lagarosiphon removal weeds as examples thereof. —Additional reporting RNZ
– Tracie Barrett