Oamaru, July 7 NZPA - Declining resource consent for a $900 million hydro-power scheme on the lower Waitaki River would encourage New Zealand to look at more sustainable energy generation, the Environment Court was told today.

The court today heard final evidence in Christchurch on Meridian's North Bank Tunnel Concept (NBTC) plan which aims to take water from Lake Waitaki, northwest of Oamaru, and pass it through a tunnel and power station before discharging the water into the river at Stonewall.

Opponent Dugald MacTavish, a water resource consultant, said that declining the application did not signal the end of electricity development in New Zealand, but rather the crucial need for a change in mindset about the more constrained role energy must play in a sustainable society.

He said he did not discount future use of hydro generation, but only in compliance with the Waitaki Regional Plan (WRP).

"With more advanced understanding of technology and natural systems...we may be able to use the hydro allocation in the future in line with the principles of sustainable management."

His previous involvement in resource consent applications at the time of Meridian's now-defunct Project Aqua highlighted the pressure being put on the river's water resource, Mr MacTavish said.

"It became clear that the river itself was highly vulnerable to the new scale of development that was being proposed.

"From one day feeling that the river had inexhaustible capacity, we were the next day taking about what the best minimum flow for the river might be."

The effects of the NBTC scheme on the environment would be irreversible, Mr MacTavish said.

"The local community must be given as much consideration as the presumed national good of more energy generation."

Judge Jon Jackson reserved his decision until after all submissions had been received.