Final legal barriers have been cleared for construction of a power station north of Auckland.
Genesis Energy applied to local councils for the right to build a 480-megawatt gas-fired station in Rodney in 2007.
A district plan change has now been granted by Rodney District Council, following an Environment Court order upholding an earlier council decision.
That establishes a Special Thermal Energy Generation Zone at a site between Helensville and Kaukapakapa.
While the plan change and resource consents are now in place, Genesis Energy has indicated it does not intend to build the power station in the near future.
The company would still have to submit building, noise and traffic plans to the council for approval before construction could start.
