Final legal barriers have been cleared for the building of a future power station north of Auckland.
Rodney District Council has approved a change to its District Plan change to allow development of the station.
Genesis Energy applied for the right to build a 480 megawatt gas-fired station in Rodney in 2007.
A special thermal energy generation zone will be established at a site between Helensville and Kaukapakapa.
The vote follows an order by the Environment Court, which upheld a decision by the council to grant the plan change.
But Genesis Energy would still have to submit building, noise and traffic plans for approval before construction could start.
While the plan change and resource consents are now in place, the council says Genesis Energy has indicated it does not intend to build the power station in the near future.
