Queenstown
Airport’s draft Master Plan has attracted widespread interest and a broad range
of feedback from the community.
The draft
plan, which was released on 24 May, proposes a series of improvements focusing
on safety, resilience, efficiency, and customer experience. It also allocates
space to enable and support the decarbonisation of aviation and to protect
options to meet the community’s future needs.
Community consultation,
which was conducted in partnership with the Queenstown Lakes District Council,
closed on Friday (23 June). A multi-channel approach was used to maximise
community reach and visibility, providing several ways to participate and give
feedback both in person across the district and digitally.
More than 230
submissions were made through QLDC’s Let’s Talk platform and other feedback was
gathered at public information sessions and meetings with community
organisations. A video introducing the draft plan has been viewed more than
2,200 times.
Queenstown
Airport Chief Executive Glen Sowry said he and his team had taken every
opportunity to discuss the plan with residents’ associations, business
organisations and other community groups.
“I’d like to
thank those who have participated in the community consultation and provided us
with their feedback. It is really important that we hear as diverse a range of
opinions as possible and use that to create a final Master Plan for an airport that
is future-ready, proactive about
climate change, and continues to contribute to the social and economic
wellbeing of the region over the long term.
“We are mindful of the importance of balancing
aeronautical activity with both the capacity of regional infrastructure and
preserving what makes the region a special place to live, work and visit.”
Queenstown
Airport is also consulting iwi and is gathering feedback from ZQN airport
stakeholders and users.
A full
engagement report will be released in August. All the feedback received through
the QLDC/QAC consultation on Let’s Talk will be made public, with appropriate
privacy protections in place.
A final
Master Plan will be delivered to shareholders for consideration later in the
year.
