The White Hill wind farm Open Day held on Sunday 4 February 2007 was a great success for Meridian, the local community and visitors.  The event attracted around 5,000 people and raised around $61,000 for the Northern Southland Development Fund.

Visitors were treated to bus tours of the site (15 buses made 120 trips) to learn first hand about the workings of a wind farm. In between times they soaked up a carnival atmosphere of family fun and entertainment at the Mossburn recreation grounds. 

Project manager, Paul Wilson, says Meridian always planned to have an open day at White Hill because – unlike the Te Apiti Wind Farm in the North Island – there is no public access to the site.

"We realised that an open day was a good idea and we also decided to build a viewing kiosk featuring information boards in Mossburn itself, so that visitors to the town could view the wind farm from a distance."

Key to the success of the day was the involvement of the local community. Community leaders from Lumsden, Dipton and Mossburn became involved through organisations such as the Mossburn Volunteer Fire Brigade, the Mossburn Rugby Club and the Lumsden and Mossburn Lions Clubs.

"Community leaders played an integral part in the six months or so of planning that went into the open day – each taking responsibility for one of a number of portfolios that included transport, finance, entertainment and food, and public relations and advertising. The community played a huge role in the event and it really was their day," says Paul.

Local community members acted as parking wardens and tour guides at the site, and visitors were given an information pack about Meridian and the White Hill Wind Farm development. Back at a marquee at the Mossburn Community Centre, locals ran fundraising activities which included food stalls and the Mossburn Volunteer Fire brigade offering 'genuine White Hill wind farm wind' for $2 a bottle.

Feedback from the open day was 97% positive among the people surveyed.

Mossburn Lions Club member, Graeme Hellewell, was involved in the open day and says it was a fantastic community event. He also enjoyed meeting Meridian staff during the project.

"Meeting the personnel involved in the wind farm was informative and interesting and they were very happy to attend our Lions Club meetings as guest speakers."

The first wind farm in the South Island, White Hill's 29 turbines have a generation capacity of 58MW – enough electricity to power 30,000 households. The wind farm was officially opened on 8 June 2007 by Prime Minister Helen Clark.