No final decision will be made with respect to issuing
further Queenstown Airport shares to Auckland International
Airport Ltd, or entering into a shareholders' agreement,
while proceedings are before the court, the Queenstown Lakes
District Council has promised the High Court at Christchurch.
In a press release yesterday, QLDC chief executive Debra
Lawson said the council lodged the formal undertaking with
the High Court on Tuesday, after an extraordinary meeting of
the full council in Queenstown on Monday.
On August 17, legal proceedings were issued against the
council, the Queenstown Airport Corporation and Auckland
International Airport by Air New Zealand and the Queenstown
Community Strategic Asset Group Trustee Ltd regarding the
alliance between QAC and AIAL.
The council has engaged lawyers Simpson Grierson to defend
the proceedings.
Ms Lawson said the formal undertaking meant the council
accepted there would be "no final decisions taken in relation
to the second tranche" - which would involve up to a further
10% of shares being issued to Auckland Airport - or to enter
into a "binding shareholders' agreement" while the
proceedings were before the court.
The council was also "signalling its intention" to consult
the community over any proposal to proceed with the second
tranche.
Ms Lawson said "it continued to be a disappointment" the
legal proceedings, and associated cost to the community, had
been brought in the first place.
"We had entered into an agreement with the Office of the
Auditor-general [OAG], which had committed to undertake an
in-depth, independent investigation of these matters, an
investigation that would have carried minimal cost to
ratepayers.
"Within hours of confirmation by the OAG to all parties that
it would undertake an investigation, council was given notice
of legal proceedings.
"The OAG had no choice but to put its investigation on hold
and the council must now defend these matters in court."
Accusations the council was "gagging its elected members",
and the community was prevented from having a say at Monday's
council meeting, were "unfortunate", Ms Lawson said.
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