The following was WSG’s Submission to QLDC at the full council meeting held in Wānaka on 2nd May 2024

Kia ora Mayor Lewers and councillors.  I’m Mark Sinclair, deputy chair of Wānaka Stakeholders Group, with a membership of 3,500 people, largely based in the Upper Clutha.

It’s no secret that development of Wānaka Airport is back on the agenda. 

We’re not opposed to development of the airport, or to progress, or to scheduled air services. We never have been. Nor are we anti-business or anti-tourism. Far from it. Many of our members own or run a business. As you well know, our primary focus has been seeking transparency and full community involvement around any plans for Wānaka Airport. And I’m afraid to say councillors, we are already concerned again.

We’re concerned that there is strong and repeated messaging from QLDC all of a sudden that the airport is, as you put it, “not washing its face financially”. One councillor has even said that it’s QLDC’s worst performing asset. QLDC seems to place zero value on the $70m in annual revenue which businesses based at Wānaka Airport are generating. Or the 147 full time jobs paying $9.3M in salaries. Or business flowing to the over 700 suppliers. Or the significant impact all of this will be having on our local economy. All of this appears to be ignored.

We’re concerned that you have rejected many of our requests for transparency relating to the airport’s finances.

– Like details of QAC’s management fee – understood to be over $300,000 per year, and projected to grow significantly.

– Like why the lucrative NASA fees have been taken out of the airport’s P&L.

– Like details of the projected interest payments, or why QAC’s fees will ramp up significantly.

We’re concerned to hear that your lease negotiations with Wānaka airport users have been difficult and protracted and super frustrating. In some cases, they’ve been trying for six years to renew their leases. You are proposing to raise the rent significantly, but you won’t even share the valuation report with them, which is standard commercial practice.

We’re concerned at the chronic underinvestment in Wānaka Airport over many years.  The deputy mayor has acknowledged publicly that you have been bad landlords over a sustained period.

We’ve repeatedly expressed our view that there is insufficient Upper Clutha community involvement in airport governance. Even your delayed establishment of the Liaison Committee has failed thus far to improve the situation

And all of this against the background of numerous troubled QLDC projects in the district, unacceptable debt levels, low ratepayer satisfaction and high levels of frustration in Wānaka. Our community board even says it is struggling to engage meaningfully with you.

It’s not a good picture.

The high court and the Local Government Commission have both ruled that you need to improve transparency, information flows and build better relationships with us all.

Yet what we are seeing is the same set of issues ramping up again.

It’s time for QLDC to turn over a new leaf with Wānaka Airport and provide full and frank information, put a full range of options (and ALL the details) on the table, and involve the community properly from the outset.

Nga mihi nui