On Monday, Queenstown Lakes District Council released a statement, announcing they will establish a steering committee to act as a bridge between QLDC and QAC, in order to influence the Statement of Intent (SOI) so it can be accepted by council. The SOI has already been rejected by council twice this year as the Wānaka Airport debate continues to cause friction. 

According to QLDC, this steering committee will, “work together on a shared understanding of Council expectations and the QAC’s intentions.” Michael Ross from the Wānaka Stakeholders Group says that the steering committee is an inappropriate mechanism and “window dressing after the event is not going to fix the wrongs which have been done by Council to the Upper Clutha community in relation to this matter.” 

The steering committee will consist of the Mayor; three councillors (to be named); the QAC Chair; three QAC Directors (to be confirmed by QAC); and the QLDC and QAC Chief Executives.

The steering committee is not the only big development in the controversial case. Today (Thursday December 12), the council will face a decision on whether to accept the amended 2019 SOI presented by the QAC on August 20. After it was rejected in the August meeting.

Read this in full here.

✈️🌍✈️ New research from @MIT gives us yet another reason to think VERY carefully about jets flying in and out of Wanaka. It makes for chilling reading😷 https://t.co/qc2LQppfZR #aviation #airportexpansion

— Protect Wanaka (@ProtectWanaka) November 13, 2019