Context
It’s the time of year when the Council can send the letter of expectations to QAC. This is the optional first step in the annual drafting, consultation, and finalisation of QAC’s statement of intent.
The SOI is the document through which Council controls its majority-owned company. Council is legally required to inspect the final SOI that has been adopted by QAC’s Board of Directors to determine whether the company’s plans satisfy Council’s intentions for its investment in the company. If Council is not satisfied, Council has the legal authority and responsibility to direct QAC’s board to change its SOI. In this way, Council can control QAC’s objectives and the nature and scope of its activities.
The letter of expectations is a way for Council to give QAC a heads up. It’s optional, and QLDC has not provided such a letter in recent years.
At these pivotal times, when QAC is engaged in major expansion planning and the community is strongly engaged with airport issues, the statement of expectations offers a strong tool with which Council could guide QAC. This is the second year that we have asked the Council to use its opportunity to send QAC a formal statement of expectations.
QLDC full council meeting
January 31, 2020
Cath Gilmour representing KPCA
Thank you for the opportunity to speak.
I am sure you all read the letter Amy forwarded on my behalf two weeks ago, asking you to add a late agenda item today to discuss how our community can understand and take part in the Statement of Intent process for Queenstown Airport Corporation.
I asked this for two reasons.
First, the 94% feedback from our community and the business sector in opposition to QAC’s noise boundary expansion plans clearly showed there is NOT support for unmitigated growth and its effects.
And secondly, because the vital strategic decisions on which QAC’s plan is based should be made by the council and our community, not QAC.
Legally, the SOI is council’s primary and only public opportunity to direct QAC on the outcomes and strategic goals it wants QAC to achieve. The SOI both formally expresses and measures the relationship between QAC and council goals.
To date, this process has largely been an annual rubberstamping exercise.
I didn’t hear back from any councillors and the issue is not on this agenda. But I was pleased to hear back from your CEO that Mike shares these concerns and I’m sure he’ll guide you well. I would like to take this opportunity to outline two steps I believe council could take.
First – a formal and public Letter of Expectations expressly stating what Council expects from QAC. This is a common method used to ensure a company’s Statement of Intent and resultant business plan align with its majority shareholders’ strategic goals.
This would help inform the second step – an open, transparent and timely discussion between council and its community. This should specifically include those who made substantive submissions to QAC, such as Kelvin Peninsula and Frankton Community Associations and the Stakeholders’ Group.
Because if the SOI process is not actively driven by Council and the community, then QAC’s resultant business plan will continue to be driven primarily by the demands of the airlines.
Last month, capacity at Queenstown Airport increased 16% – that’s 32 more flights – and passenger numbers went up 10%. This growth is far beyond what is allowed for even with the planned expansion.
But airlines are not concerned with the effects of their demands, because all their costs would be externalised. It is our community that would consume the costs of congestion, infrastructure, untenable noise, loss of development rights for another 3,000 landholders and so on.
The strong opposition to QAC’s plans showed a clear risk of loss of social licence for the tourism industry if this were to be the case. And if you lose that, the golden goose of Queenstown tourism is totally cooked.
I see in agenda item 6 that you plan to use the special consultative process for land-based thoroughfares. Surely the fundamental issues at stake here are at least equally material.
However the SOI process evolves, can I ask you to make sure it doesn’t drive a wedge between Wanaka and Queenstown. This has the potential to be an emotive and divisive debate as each community puts its case – especially if we feel railroaded and ignored.
In fact, our debate should be part of a nationwide discussion as part of broader questions about New Zealand’s tourism industry and its infrastructure.
On this front, I hope councillors have submitted to MBIE’s draft New Zealand Tourism Strategy – due on Monday – which identifies Queenstown as one of New Zealand’s four regional airport hubs. Shouldn’t Queenstown aim to be a destination airport, not a regional hub sucking up New Zealand-wide demand?
Has council considered the best place for the airport in 60 years’ time, when demand is even greater?
What’s an acceptable level of growth for our community’s wellbeing and environment?
These are just some of the strategic decisions that should be actively made by Council and our community – not be an adjunct result of QAC’s business plan based on airline wishlists.
The SOI is your instrument to define these goals. It is three months until you are going to sign off this year’s SOI. I hope we can all be proud of the resultant document – and its far-reaching consequences.