The Star: August 31, 2023

The Star Thursday August 31 2023
16
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Controversial airport plan: New research
• By Nathan Morton
CHRISTCHURCH Airport
has released new research on
its controversial Central Otago
airport plans and confirmed the
runway will have “slightly more”
impact on the nearby village of
Tarras.
Environmental experts have
slammed the report, claiming
Christchurch Airport is “in
denial” and locals have said the
report could spell the end of the
village.
The proposal to build a new
international airport at the
picturesque Central Otago site
has sparked debate for more
than three years, with opposition
from many Tarras locals and
environmentalists.
Chief among the concerns has
been the airport’s close location
to Tarras, a village of fewer than
300 residents.
Until the report was released,
residents were left to speculate
how the airport might affect their
village’s future, including fears
that planes would fly low over the
school and that infrastructure
would buckle.
Now, Christchurch Airport has
made its project research public,
confirming the airport would
impact the village but justifying
the need to build the site.
Christchurch Airport chose
the site, of about 800 hectares,
HAVE YOUR SAY: What
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plan to build an airport
near Tarras? Email barry@
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CENTRAL OTAGO: Christchurch Airport has proposed building the airport on about
800 hectares near Tarras. PHOTOS: NZ HERALD
because of its “good connectivity”
to popular tourist spots such
as Queenstown, Cromwell and
Alexandra.
It hopes the proposed airport
will bring overseas tourists to a
part of the country where nearly
$3.8 billion was spent in the year
ending March 2020.
The new research includes a
comparison between two ideal
options for where the airport’s
runway would point.
Christchurch Airport’s
preferred option would be to
align the runway, which will
stretch up to 2.6km, between
Lindis Valley and Lake Dunstan
Valley.
That would avoid planes flying
over already-busy South Island
towns and accommodating
almost all aircraft, as well as
exposing fewer households to
noise, it says.
But the research also shows
that option, if selected, would
have “slightly more of an impact
on the village of Tarras” due to
its “closer proximity” to the point
from which planes flying north
would arrive.
It would also increase the effect
on properties based on State
Highway 8 and the highway itself.
Christchurch Airport
acknowledged that those living
near the airport would be more
likely to be exposed to its “visual
effects” and plane movements,
which would “require
assessment”.
It’s not news to Sustainable
Tarras spokesperson Suze Keith,
who has been fighting for Tarras
to have a say in whether the
proposal becomes reality.
“Even if the runway was on a
different angle, of course it will
have an impact on the village,”
she said.
“It threatens the future of the
local school, the cafe and the
shops. They’ll have noise and air
quality issues, so it potentially
means the end of Tarras Village,
which is the heart of the
community.”
The airport’s
chief strategy
and stakeholder
officer, Michael
Singleton, said
time was spent
understanding
the range of
runway lengths
achievable on
the site.
“(The runway
Michael
Singleton
option) stood out for its safety,
operational efficiency and having
a lesser noise impact on the
communities,” he said.
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