northland chamber

16 May 2008

Submission to:

Rodney District Council – by email to customerservice@rodney.govt.nz
Auckland Regional Council – by email to consentsubmission@arc.govt.nz

Submission regarding:

The Proposal to establish, operate, maintain, upgrade the Rodney Power Station and associated facilities

Submission by:

The Northland Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc.

The Northland Chamber of Commerce

The Northland Chamber of Commerce currently has 420 financial members that employ the equivalent of 5000 full time employees.

Since 1903, the Northland Chamber of Commerce has served the needs of the Northland business community through its public policy and advocacy initiatives and its business development programs and services.
The Chamber also works to ensure that Northland has a business-friendly environment where all businesses can grow and prosper. With this, also comes paying close attention to the quality of life the region offers our members’ employees and families. The Chamber works to make a difference in Northland’s future and to help Northland grow.
The Northland Chamber of Commerce generally favour well researched development projects that add value to the economy, community and infrastructure of the region especially those projects that undergo rigorous scrutiny to ensure that the community and environment are protected.

General Nature of Submission

In Support of all applications

Submission

The Northland Chamber of Commerce fully support Genesis Energy Applications to carry out the construction and upgrade of the Rodney Power Station as described in the ARC and Rodney Distinct Council’s Public notification for Genesis Energy Rodney Power Station Proposal

The reason we support this is because.

Security of power supply in New Zealand.
Industry requires a reliable supply of electricity to provide for the future social and economic well being of the country. The proposed station will do this.
A wide range of generation source is required 9Besides Wind, Solar, Gas, Hydro) to ensure power is available at times required
The proposed power station will enable generation during low hydro , low wind periods
Security for Northland. More generation is required north of the Auckland Isthmus. Currently very little generation north of Otahuhu
Security for Northland can not be guaranteed by upgrading transmission lines alone. More local Generation is also required.
Growth expectations for the Auckland and Northland regions require more local generation.

Consumer Benefits
The proposed station will assist the stability of power prices by providing generation options when other sources are limited.

The Environment
The proposed station will limit the use of the Whirinaki Diesel power station which has greater carbon producing emissions due to the diesel fuel being used.

Best Location for a station
The proposed sight is close to all the factors of production required to run the station namely gas supplies, transmission lines, water supply and road access
Area has plentiful land available – enough to supply 8 hectares at a reasonable cost.
The station will enable more sustainable development in the Northland and Auckland Regions

We support the proposed plans and would like to see both the Auckland Regional Council and the Rodney District Councils make any decisions required to support these applications.

We would like to be heard to support our submission.



Yours faithfully

Jeff Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Northland Chamber of Commerce

Phone 09-4384771
027-4441010
ceo@northchamber.co.nz