The government announced hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding for a proposed waste-to-energy scheme two days after experts advised it was a lemon. The Environment Ministry warned the Provincial Growth Fund that the proposed project on the West Coast was unsustainable economically or environmentally. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones placed the proposed scheme on ice in February after RNZ informed him its chief executive, Gerard Gallagher,...

Plans to build a controversial waste-to-energy plant on the West Coast have been scrapped. The announcement came after it was revealed that Buller Mayor Garry Howard had signed what appears to be an agreement to give the Westport plant the go-ahead without telling the public or district councillors. This revelation sparked controversy and public outcry, leading to the cancellation of the project. The agreement was between Renew Energy Ltd and Chinese company China Tianying Inc., which...

The Buller District councillors voted on Thursday to show they had “no confidence” in Mayor Garry Howard after it was earlier revealed he signed an apparent agreement to give a proposed waste-to-energy plant in Westport the go-ahead without telling the public or councillors. Cr Dave Hawes said the deal would have bankrupted the council if approved. It included a price for water that would have meant the waste-to-energy...