Councils at odds over runway shift

An Otago Regional Council plan to build a new depot at the Taieri Airfield could cause turbulence for a controversial Dunedin City Council plan to make roading changes in the area.

The plan may create tension between the two local authorities and could result in legal action, A $3.2 million plan to link Centre St and Carncross St in Mosgiel is part of a city council plan for arterial routes in the area, a controversial issue that has dragged on for years.

The plan would involve moving the airfield's runway north, but the regional council plans to build its depot where the new runway would be.

Discussions are still under way, but little progress appears to have been made.

The possibility of legal action has been mooted by the city council, and the regional council has warned of "entrenched positions".

The regional council has notified a notice of requirement for a 1.5ha piece of land in Odlins Pl, at the end of the Taieri Airfield so it can relocate its Taieri depot from Riccarton Rd.

The notification report said the depot would include an office block, storage buildings and outside storage areas.

The depot would be used for activities including administration, light engineering, storage, biosecurity, pest management and resource science.

The city council voted this week to publicly notify its intention to amend the landing and take-off safety zones to fix a historical error on the district plan.

The error was on maps of the area, though there was no change to the flight paths.

Under the plan change, the runway would be shifted slightly to the north, to allow the link between Centre St and Carncross St, but a planning and environment committee meeting heard the regional council's plan would make that move impossible, as the new depot was positioned to where the runway would be moved.

Strategy and development general manager Kate Styles told the meeting the regional council was "fully aware" of what the city council wanted to do.

There had been discussions between the two councils, but that "those negotiations, to date, have not reached a satisfactory conclusion".

City councillor John Bezett said yesterday the council had attempted to buy the land the regional council wanted to build on from a previous owner, but that had not happened.

"I don't know what's going to happen there," he said about discussions between the councils.

The matter could end up before the courts.

"I'm assuming the ORC will see sense, and make some allowances. If negotiations are not successful, it has the potential to be quite a messy process."

Regional council chairman Stephen Cairns last night would not comment on the issue, saying it was "between the councils at this point".

However, he noted discussions had not finished.

 

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