Mayoral candidate would send Queenstown Airport board in a strategic direction 'miles from here'
Thursday, 12 September 2019
Future growth at Queenstown Airport should be paused, stopped or sent in a strategic direction many miles away, Queenstown Lakes mayoral candidates have argued.
The airport was the hottest topic at the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce candidate debate on Thursday night.
Glenorchy resident Al Angus who is standing for the mayoralty a third time said residents did not want their homes 'invaded with jet noise 24 hours a damn day.'
'The CEO and board should be put on a plane and be sent in any strategic direction, miles from here,' he said.
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The issue of airport growth is a key election issue after a public outcry against Queenstown Airport Corporation plans to expand noise boundaries at Queenstown Airport last year and to further develop Wanaka Airport to be able to accommodate scheduled jet flights.
Nik Kiddle said people feared that the 'rampant, unbridled growth' that was being discussed would destroy the natural and social amenities of the town.
He wanted the community, the Queenstown Airport Corporation, the council as 75.1 per cent shareholder of the corporation and Auckland Airport as 24.9 per cent shareholder, to hold a year-long summit to decide on future growth.
'I don't want to just pause those economic and social impact assessments that the mayor talks about. I want to stop them, absolutely stop them,' he said.
Incumbent Jim Boult, who is a former chief executive of Christchurch Airport, said no allowances for further growth would be made for Wanaka or Queenstown Airports until the results of independent social and economic impact assessments were available.
About 30 per cent of the movements through Queenstown Airport were by locals, and 400,000 of the 2.2 million passengers at Queenstown Airport last year were for Wanaka-based travel, he said.
'That's why I'm suggesting that Wanaka needs to have a regional base that will cope with those movements.'
He was prepared to be open minded on the idea of moving Queenstown Airport but wary of the 700 people who currently worked at the airport, the carbon emissions that would be produced as people drove to Queenstown and the potential of an Alpine Fault earthquake that could leave 60,000 tourists stranded in the town, he said.
Boult's plans for a a 5 per cent levy on visitors' accommodation to help fund the district's infrastructure was also contentious.
Boult was delighted with news on Wednesday the proposal had cross-party Parliamentary support for legislation to be drafted.
Kiddle, a hotel owner who has made a name for himself rallying opposition to the plan, said he was not against a levy but believed it was a 'very blunt instrument' and a better plan could be found.
He expected there would be negative impacts for accommodation sector and the broader tourism economy such as restaurants, bars and tourism activity providers.
Other tourism businesses including the Wayfare Group, which Boult was a director of, needed to 'step up to the plate' and help. 'There's no reason why they should be let off the hook.'
It could be done in a way that didn't impact on locals, he said.
Government health and transport providers were targets of the candidates.
Boult said he wondered if the Southern District Health Board even knew Queenstown existed and it was unbelievable that midwives were paid per baby they delivered.
'Some babies go pop and they're out. Others take days,' he said. 'It's just not acceptable to be treated the way we are.'
He also had a crack at the NZ Transport Agency. Kiddle said the agency was a 'dinosaur'.
A question about Queenstown's reputation as a party town prompted Angus, who is standing for the mayoralty for a third time, to comment that nothing good happened after 2am.
'If you can't have a meal and have a slight lean on and get loved up by 2 o'clock, go home.'