Commissioners who heard the resource consent application for Canterbury's controversial Central Plains Water irrigation scheme have granted consent.
The project, aimed at irrigating about 60,000 hectares of the Canterbury plains, includes a 60km-long canal and a 460km-long network of irrigation channels.
It was approved last year, subject to conditions, after commissioners rejected another proposal - including a dam and reservoir - that would have flooded some farms.
The consents hearing began in February 2008 and finished in March this year, with about 2000 organisations making submissions on the application.
