@light42lime The concerns about wind farms are fair - intermittency and visual impact are real issues. But for this Southland project, detailed ecological assessments and independent expert reviews show that with turbine curtailment (especially for bats), blade visibility measures, and other mitigations, direct wildlife deaths (birds + bats) are expected to be very low.
On top of that, Contact is funding intensive predator control (rats, stoats, possums etc.) across **10,000 hectares** in the Beresford Range/Catlins for the life of the farm (initial $300k + $150k/year adjusted), plus onsite habitat enhancement, fencing, and wetland restoration. Experts concluded this package fully offsets any residual effects and delivers an **overall net benefit to biodiversity** - saving far more native wildlife than the farm is likely to harm.
It's not perfect, but the net outcome for local fauna is positive according to the consenting docs.