The plants needed to be capable of completely screening panels and security fencing and be in the ground within the planting season (March to September), following commencement of construction.
However, Aquila Clean Energy said it was working with Whakatāne District Council to put the matter right.
Whakatāne District Council issued the resource consent for the solar farm in 2021.
At the time, residents said they were given assurances by Far North Solar Farms representatives that plantings would be in place well ahead of construction starting.
“In fact, they told us they had the plants already,” said Jo Spod, who lives directly across the road from the site.
Spod said the lack of planting was particularly galling when compared with the resource consent conditions the council had made him comply with when he built a second house on his own property in 2020.
That consent had required screening plants to be in place to mitigate the visual environmental impact of the house being so near the road.
Spod said the solar farm would have a far greater visual impact than his cottage.
In March 2024, the company announced that construction would soon begin.
Work taking place on the new solar farm between Western Drain Rd and Putiki Rd, as seen from Putiki Rd. Photo / LDR
Some pittosporum trees were planted along the perimeter of the site in September last year, but the plants were less than the stipulated height of 1 metre.
Putiki Rd resident Peter Askey said the species were not suited to the plains’ growing conditions so were unlikely to thrive.
Askey said the consent condition was very clear on the plant height when planted.
“Council have refused to enforce it and appear content to let the plantings grow into specification, which will add another year.”
Whakatāne council resource consents manager Mike Avery said the council had noted non-compliance with conditions of the certified Landscape Management Plan, where planting had been carried out that did not meet the specific requirements.
Avery said Aquila-Far North were subsequently required to resubmit a revision of the plan to show how the non-compliance was to be mitigated. The submitted variation was then subject to professional peer review.
“Aquila are currently further amending the Landscape Management Plan to take account of all of the mitigation measures recommended by the reviewer,” Avery said.
“The changes require some replanting and an increased level of landscape maintenance to ensure optimal plant growth.”
A spokesperson from Aquilla Clean Energy said as soon as the company was made aware of the unintended issue, it proactively approached the council and was currently at advanced stages of working through the matter with them.
Far North Solar Farms had been contacted for comment but was yet to provide a response.
Putiki Rd residents have previously raised other issues with solar farms being developed in the area.
In October 2025, Local Democracy Reporting highlighted residents’ concerns about resource consent changes being made that would allow the main entrance for the site to be in Putiki Rd.
The residents said they had received assurances when they first agreed to the solar farm that the entrance would be on Western Drain Rd.
Askey said a compromise had been reached over this matter.
Last year, residents also complained about Genesis Energy’s plan to build a 200ha, 136MWp solar farm at the northern end of Putiki Rd.
Genesis has plans to run above-ground power lines along the residents’ side of the road to connect to the Edgecumbe substation. This will put a large number of native and significant trees on the roadside at risk.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.