Here’s an opinion piece which was published this morning in Crux. It’s worth reading the whole post on their website – you’ll find the link below.

Opinion: Kat West is an architect and businesswomen who has lived in Wanaka since 1998. In this article she documents her concerns that the Chamber of Commerce (Ignite Wanaka) has taken a position on airport expansion that fails to represent the views of the local business community. She claims an article published by Ignite Wanaka board member Celia Crosbie is inaccurate and represents a significant problem in terms of the Chamber’s role in the community. The Chamber receives support funding from the Queenstown Lakes District Council.

I was privileged to attend one of the airport impact assessment consultation focus groups in Wanaka last week, and I’ve been surprised by claims that the meeting was ugly.  It was far from it.  

There were ten other people in the meeting.  Nine of those do not support the claims – and I am one of those nine.  There was tension and emotion, but not bullying or scoffing, and definitely the major frustrations were directed at the process, not Celia personally. One of the really positive things that I took away from the meeting was that there were many other business people also very concerned about uninhibited growth and the airport’s potential contribution to this.

As a business person, I am really concerned that Ignite Wanaka – claiming to be the voice of business in Wanaka – has deliberately tried to skew the conversation. I therefore want to share what I know.

Read this in full on the Crux website.

Join the Wanaka Stakeholder Group Inc. for free here. 

Encourage others to with this post.