The Guardians of Lakes Manapouri, Monowai and Te Anau have recently elected Madeleine Peacock of Te Anau as their new chairperson.

Ms Peacock is the grand-daughter of Les Hutchins, one of the founding guardians and co-founder of Manapouri-Doubtful Sound Tourist Company, now RealNZ.

She grew up in Fiordland and has a strong interest in conservation in the area.

Currently working in tourism, Ms Peacock is looking forward to continuing the work of the Guardians and particularly focusing on improving engagement with the community and other stakeholders as well as the operators Meridian Energy and Pioneer Energy on issues relating to the lakes and rivers.

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Ms Peacock supersedes Darryl Sycamore of Dunedin who held the chair position for four years but remains on as deputy chairperson.

Mr Sycamore commented that “with a second term on the Guardians ending in April, the opportunity to step down now enables succession planning with minimal impact on our projects”.

Mr Sycamore has not decided whether he will seek reappointment for a further term.

The Guardians were established by Government as a result of the Save Manapouri Campaign, where the Government of the time sought to raise the lake levels by 30m to maximise electricity generation.

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In 1970, 264,907 New Zealanders, almost 10% of the population, signed the Save Manapouri petition. This remains the largest petition of New Zealand’s history. Lake Monowai was subsequently added to the Guardians mandate.

The Guardians make recommendations to the Minister of Conservation on any matters arising from the environmental, ecological, and social effects of the operation of the Manapouri and Monowai Power Stations on the townships of Manapouri and Te Anau, Lake Manapouri,Lake Te Anau and Lake Monowai and their shorelines, and on the rivers flowing in and out of those lakes, having particular regard to the effects of the operations on social values, conservation, recreation, tourism, and related activities and amenities.

The Guardians currently have two vacancies and are advertising to fill these. The appointments are made by the Minister of Conservation and each term is for five years.  The current Guardians are Madeleine Peacock, Darryl Sycamore, Bill Jarvie of Te Anau, Dr. Jane Kitson (Ngai Tahu) of Invercargill and Dr. Sue Bennett of Te Anau.