Protect Wanaka 
WSG Judicial review concludes [Wanaka Sun, 01/10/20]
Despite QLDC and QAC both pleading that “no decision has been made” to build a jet airport at Wānaka Airport”, it was revealed in the hearing that runway plans had been drawn up, millions budgeted by Council to move parts of Project Pure away from the proposed runway in the coming months, and the Mayor and CEO had also written to QAC giving them “confidence to carry on.”
Queenstown Airport Corporation (QAC) and the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) are respondents in a judicial review brought by the Wānaka Stakeholders Group (WSG), which opposes the development of the Wānaka Airport for jet services. WSG wants the 100-year lease provided by the Council to QAC to be abandoned.
The case concluded last Friday and Justice Gerard van Bohemen was expected to make a decision in the coming weeks.
The “current thinking” of the QAC was that no decision had been made to establish a commercial jet service at Wānaka Airport.
That point was reaffirmed in submissions to Justice van Bohemen in the High Court at Queenstown by QAC lawyer Chris Curran.
Curran said the evidence of QAC chief examiner Colin Keel was that the corporation had no definite plans to develop Wānaka Airport let alone made any decisions to develop a plan when the lease was signed in March 2018.
“The introduction of scheduled flights, including code C aircraft [e.g. Boeing 737, Airbus A-320], was an option that we were interested in exploring,” Curran said.
“However, we did not know whether that was a viable option, technically or financially.”
The WSG was urging people in the Upper Clutha not to get complacent whilst waiting for the Judge’s decision. The Group said that the information made public during the hearing should be “ringing alarm bells”.
When Keel spoke to Wānaka stakeholders in April 2019, he said that “Wānaka Airport could develop as a regional airport capable of supporting scheduled domestic services using turbo-prop and narrow-body jet aircraft”. Curran said the idea had persisted through the five days of the hearing.
Most of his written submissions focused on the relationship between QAC and its majority owner, the Council.
Curran pointed out the “harm” to the QAC if the lease was scrapped, referring to time spent negotiating leases, progressing the airport’s master plan, and engaging with the community.
WSG Chair, Michael Ross, said that he had already had feedback from some who were present at the hearing who were “horrified at what was uncovered last week.”
Despite QLDC and QAC both pleading that “no decision has been made” to build a jet airport at Wānaka Airport”, it was revealed in the hearing that runway plans had been drawn up, millions budgeted by Council to move parts of Project Pure away from the proposed runway in the coming months, and the Mayor and CEO had also written to QAC giving them “confidence to carry on.”
The letter confirmed that QLDC “believed that the Board was skilled and capable of making decisions under the guidance of the Statement of Intent ( SOI) ” and “that the only area where the Council would expect to be involved was if the company proposed expanding its operation beyond aeronautical services or where it might seek to act beyond the boundaries of the Southern Region”
“Keel’s evidence is that these investments of company time and money would be wasted if the lease were now set aside,” Curran said.
Ross said that this meant that if it was business as usual and as indicated in the SOI then “QLDC was saying they should just get on with it.”
“The runway plans, budget allocation and letters to QAC, along with other reports and meetings kept confidential for years, indicate that Council is paving the way for jets in Wānaka, which is exactly what QAC wants,” he said. And all of this without adequately involving the community.
Ross said that one of the biggest revelations was the detail of the Strategic Alliance Agreement between Auckland and Queenstown airport companies.
“Despite Auckland being a minority shareholder, there is an agreement in place requiring QAC to work with Auckland to set the annual objectives for QAC, including revenue targets. QAC asked the Judge to make orders preventing this agreement being reported on, but the Judge refused, and most of it was discussed openly in court last week.”
He said that targets already agreed with Auckland Airport strongly indicated that QAC would need to get jet operations underway at Wānaka Airport by 2025.
During the judicial review, the court also heard that QLDC had withheld crucial information about the plans for Wānaka Airport not just from ratepayers, but also from Councillors. WSG presented evidence from former councillors who had been asked to make decisions about Wānaka Airport but had not seen the Strategic Alliance Agreement with Auckland Airport.
It was noted that despite there being thousands of pages of evidence – most of it provided by WSG – there was no evidence from the Mayor, any Councillors or any director of QAC – all people who had been very closely involved in making key decisions along the way, including the all-important 100-year lease.
WSG member and Wānaka resident Terry Hetherington sat through the entire hearing and said that he was stunned by the lack of evidence from Council.
“There was no evidence given at all about the lease negotiations, despite Jim Boult and Wānaka’s Calum McLeod being amongst the four men delegated to do this for the Council. I’m also quite surprised that only one person from QLDC or QAC came to observe the case during the entire week – that was Councillor Niki Gladding who was there every day.”
Ross said that WSG was feeling confident about the case and that the team felt that the Judge understood WSG’s concerns.
NEW: Take a look at the new interactive Wanaka Airport Timeline here
In the meantime, Ross said that WSG was asking members to “keep alert to airport issues” and also “focus on the big issues” around the airport debate.
“At its heart, our concerns about Wānaka Airport come back to issues such as infrastructure, the environment, quality tourism, and Council’s unwavering growth mantra. These issues affect not just the airport, but our entire district, and we need a proper, community-wide discussion about them.”
Ross said that it was “no longer acceptable” for Council to bulldoze its plans through without “full, frank and balanced dialogue with the community it serves.”
WSG deputy chair, Mark Sinclair, said he was pleased the Group had got its day in court.
“We’ve been frustrated for many, many months at the lack of transparency and how the council and the airport have blocked our requests for information at almost every step,” he said.
“It was good to be in court because we’re in front of a judge. The Judge is able to look at all the facts and the law and decide whether what the court and the airport company have done is lawful or done in the right way.
“That’s all we want. We want the community to be heard, and we want some resolution of some of the issues we are very concerned about.”
Read this week’s Wanaka Sun here.
