Context
Christchurch International Airport released their latest report that identified their preferred runway alignment, and held community information meetings in Alexandra, Cromwell, and Wānaka.
As the proposed Central Otago Airport becomes ever more viable, QLDC refuses to investigate or consider any potential effects – good or bad – for its district and ratepayers. Not even a simple SWOT analysis on the back of an envelope.
Our research shows a new Central Otago Airport could profoundly benefit the Queenstown Lakes District, if it enabled the closure of Queenstown Airport and development of Frankton Flats as the district’s future city hub.
Instead of a positive curiosity to consider the option’s pros and cons, the council has instructed QAC to “protect the value and operational priority of Queenstown Airport in the context of the proposed international airport at Tarras.” No surprise then that QAC lawyers use the Otago Regional Council and Central Otago District Council planning processes seeking to obstruct CIAL’s plans.
We are disappointed at this approach. FlightPlan2050 advocates for a national-level investigation to determine the airport infrastructure that would best promote the whole region’s well-being.
In this presentation, we again challenge Queenstown Lakes District Councillors to properly consider the opportunities and choices the proposed Central Otago Airport offers.
QLDC full council meeting
August 31, 2023
Kia ora, I am John Hilhorst representing FlightPlan2050.
This week’s announcement by Christchurch International Airport makes ever more credible the opportunity before this council.
You have a choice.
It’s a choice between two airports.
The strategic importance of this choice is massive.
Either airport option could meet the district’s economic and social needs. Indeed, the Tarras option could offer more, with much greater freight capacity, fewer constraints, and more reliable schedules.
But the outcomes from each are dramatically different.
On the one hand, our future district could have central urban concentration. A wonderful, live-work city on Frankton Flats. By growing this urban density, we could gain a park-like campus with the substance and character that attracts skilled people to a thriving, highly-paid knowledge ecosystem. Urban density is essential to drive such economic diversification.
This central urban density would consolidate the Wakatipu’s transport and utilities networks. With a single developer, owned by Council, it’s a unique opportunity to get massive returns for ratepayers and resolve future housing affordability, while creating the world’s best Alpine city.
Such urban concentration and economic diversification are our best climate change mitigation strategies.
In contrast, our future could have dispersed suburban developments throughout the Wakatipu without ever developing the density required for a thriving knowledge ecosystem.
As a result, its economy would remain fundamentally reliant on long-haul tourism. These dispersed settlements would increasingly clog our road network and frustrate public transport aspirations.
The flight dependent economy and car dependent transport network would entrench the worst of climate change outcomes.
We are at a crossroads with two starkly different possible futures before us. Which road we take with this fundamental airport infrastructure is mostly in your hands. It is surely our most important strategic decision for our district this century.
Yet, to date, your council has not even engaged with the question.
Instead of studying the best use for the 153 ha on Frankton Flats that the Council owns through QAC, Council has so far blindly doubled down on growing Queenstown Airport. You’ll soon be asked to endorse 350 million debt-funded dollars on refurbishments without considering the options?
I say blindly because Council has produced no work to inform you of the alternative benefits of an integrated city centre on Frankton Flats. There’s been no formal discussion, no workshops, no consultation, no analysis, no cost-benefit, and no reports.
As our elected councillors and community leaders, we ask you to lead our community through a thorough investigation of the options before us before making a considered decision.
Ngā mihi, e noho rā