Contact Energy has declined to front up to a public meeting about its controversial proposal to reduce the permitted level of Lake Hāwea by up to six metres.

Hāwea Flat farmer Erynne Fildes says she hopes tomorrow night’s (Thursday September 18) meeting will draw a strong crowd as the whole community stands to be affected by the proposal.

“The best thing to do is to try to get everyone to unite,” she told the Wānaka App.

“We’ve all got reasons we don’t want to see this happen.”

Erynne said she wasn’t aware of the extent of Contact Energy’s plans until a few weeks ago.

She was shocked to discover the proposal, if approved, could allow the lake to drop to a level where local bores could run dry - leaving farms and households, including her own, without water.

Other significant concerns about the application have also been raised by groups including the Guardians of Lake Hāwea.

They say the “devastating impacts” could also include a loss of landscape values and recreational amenity, dust storms, and mortality of aquatic animal and plant life.

“What [the proposal] would do in our community is just wrong,” Erynne said.

She wants as many people as possible to attend the meeting so the community can understand the potential impacts and have their voices heard.

This is made even more urgent by Contact Energy’s use of the fast-track approvals process, which Erynne says risks bypassing the community entirely.

The relatively new process, billed to cut red tape, has been criticised for limiting public input and minimising environmental considerations.

Representatives from Guardians of Lake Hāwea, as well as councillors from Otago Regional Council and Queenstown Lakes District Council and local community leaders will be at the meeting, which will be moderated by Jerry Rowley. 

Contact Energy, which was invited to attend the meeting on Monday (September 15), told the Wānaka App it couldn’t attend due to the short notice.

It did not respond to a question about the impact of the proposal on bores.

The public meeting over Contact Energy’s proposal will take place at 7pm tomorrow at the Lake Hāwea Community Centre. 

PHOTO: Wānaka App