Wānaka Stakeholders Group Inc. announced yesterday that it has filed judicial review proceedings in the High Court.

Their claim is centred around a view that decisions made by Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) “to transfer substantial ownership and control of Wānaka Airport to Queenstown Airport Corporation (QAC), on the grounds that those decisions were both unlawful and unreasonable.” 

WSG Chair, Michael Ross, said yesterday that the contents of the lease of Wānaka Airport to QAC, which was only disclosed to the community by the Mayor during the last days of the election campaign, are “disturbing”.  

“The only responsible step we can now take having seen the content of the lease is to proceed with legal action. 

The “lease” is, to all intents and purposes, a sale to QAC, with QAC having the right to build and operate a substantial jet-capable airport, and QAC clearly intends to do just that.

The lease even gives up elements of control to QAC in respect of the future development of Wānaka’s sewerage treatment plant, Project Pure, another strategic asset of the community.”

Read this in full here.

🌏🎥Our Wanaka Part II: We've been asking people from the Upper Clutha to tell us what they love about our community. Roger North speaks from the heart and shares his thoughts on what the impacts of a large airport here might be. View the full series here: https://t.co/zo4culjDB5 pic.twitter.com/3YrEI2UgTe

— Protect Wanaka (@ProtectWanaka) October 13, 2019