Airport Litigation withdrawn

Confirmation today that the Queenstown Airport litigation has been withdrawn by Air New Zealand and the Queenstown-based Community Assets Group has been positively received by the Queenstown Lakes District Council, Mayor Vanessa van Uden said.

High Court proceedings were scheduled to commence at Queenstown on Monday.

“This allows the Council to move ahead with its desire to engage the community about the future of the airport, something that has had to be parked because of the litigation,’ Mayor van Uden said.

The Council will undertake a comprehensive strategic review of airport assets in the Queenstown Lakes District, which needed to include economic, social and environmental considerations.

“In addition to this the Council has commenced a full review of the Queenstown Airport Corporation constitution,” Mayor van Uden said.

That work would form part of a larger body of work around reviewing governance and shareholding arrangements with all Council Controlled Organisations ie Lakes Leisure and Lakes Environmental.

“We will be looking for a level of transparency and an environment of ‘no surprises’,” Mayor van Uden said.

The Council also hoped that the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) would be able to undertake an independent review of the process around the Queenstown Airport issue of shares, as they had earlier proposed.

“If the OAG decides it will undertake a review, Council would be entirely receptive to that level of scrutiny,” Mayor van Uden said.

The outcome of such a review would be a report which would give the Council and the community guidance around best practice for the future.