Draft Relocation Action Plan Released

Draft Relocation Action Plan Released

A draft relocation action plan released today by Meridian Energy explains how the residents and businesses likely to be affected by the construction of Project Aqua have been identified and how they are likely to be affected.

The draft plan also provides information on the process of relocation, and, if applicable, methods for calculating compensation.

³Meridian Energy wants to make sure no one will be worse off as a result of having to relocate,² says Meridian Energy spokesman Alan Seay.

³We want to go beyond what the Resource Management Act requires and for Project Aqua to be a reference for community relations and mitigation. For this reason, Meridian Energy would prefer to relocate people within the local community or, if this is not possible or desirable, within the wider Waitaki Valley or district.²

Meridian Energy welcomes feedback on this draft report by 30 April 2004. It will release a second draft for further community consultation before producing a final version at a later date.

The first draft does not provide detailed information about the character, form, type and location of alternative properties for residents and businesses that may need to be permanently or temporarily relocated because of the likely effects of construction and/or operation of Project Aqua.

Such information, however, will be available in future versions of the report after discussion with the communities and individuals affected.

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