‘We have concerns’

Council’s tight vote on Tarras airport plan

Christchurch city councillors have agreed in a tight vote to formally express their concern about the controversial Tarras airport project – almost three years after the plans were revealed.

In July 2020, it emerged that Christchurch International Airport Ltd – which is 75% owned by Christchurch City Council – had quietly bought hundreds of hectares of Central Otago farmland for a potential airport, a 25-minute drive from Cromwell.

The council’s investment arm, Christchurch City Holdings Ltd (CCHL), which oversees Christchurch Airport, was questioned about the plans at a council meeting yesterday, eventually resulting in a 7-6 vote of councillors to formally express their concern about the airport’s strategic direction. Mayor Phil Mauger voted against the formal expression of concern. The vote followed public pressure by Extinction Rebellion Ō tautahi activists, including Sara Campbell, who gave a presentation about the risk the airport posed to the environment, and reminded councillors that 77 academics had spoken out against the project.

Cr Yani Johanson said the community was struggling to understand how work on the airport was progressing without a proposal ever crossing the council table, and despite strong opposition to it being built.

CCHL chairperson Abby Foote said while the company knew about Christchurch Airport’s initial $45 million investment in Tarras land, it hadn’t approved any plans to build an airport.

That was because Christchurch Airport was still in a “discovery phase” and hadn’t technically decided to build anything on its Tarras land, Foote said. There was no set date for the next stage of the project.

Foote acknowledged the airport was ‘‘following a different process to what we might have all been used to in the past’’ by buying land before deciding on an outcome for it, but assured councillors that a decision wouldn’t be made without them and the public’s knowledge.

Cr Aaron Keown said the public were effectively ‘‘flying blind’’ without knowing what the benefits of an airport could be.

Later, Cr Tim Scandrett stressed the importance of voicing their concerns to Christchurch Airport directly, so they might alleviate the public’s concerns rather than keeping them ‘‘bouncing around’’.

Christchurch Airport, through CCHL, offered to meet with councillors privately to brief them on its work so far. Councillors said they were interested in this, with Cr Melanie Coker saying that as much of the conversation should be ‘‘as public as possible’’.

Despite having no formal proposal, Christchurch International Airport project director Michael Singleton told RNZ over a week ago that information about where it wanted the runway could be released ‘‘shortly’’.

On Monday, it was revealed that Tarras farmer Philip Parcell, who previously said he’d rather ‘‘drop dead’’ than leave his land, had sold his 40ha block to Christchurch Airport. It is understood that Parcell, who is in his 70s, would be able to continue living on the site.

Vote to formally express concern about a Tarras airport due to costs and climate change:

Yes: Andrei Moore, Tyla HarrisonHunt, Melanie Coker, Tyrone Fields, Mark Peters, Yani Johanson and Celeste Donovan.

No: Mayor Phil Mauger, Aaron Keown, Victoria Henstock, Tim Scandrett, Kelly Barber and James Gough.

Deputy mayor Pauline Cotter and Jake McLellan were absent from the vote.

Sam MacDonald and Sara Templeton abstained from the vote due to conflicts of interest.