The two airports are owned by the Queenstown Lakes District Council, which ratified the management change at a council meeting in Wanaka yesterday.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Clive Geddes and council chief executive Duncan Field have been authorised to enter into a contract providing for the QAC to take over Wanaka Airport. Previously, Wanaka Airport has been managed by a committee comprising three Wanaka ward councillors and the airport manager.
The Wanaka Airport Committee chairman, Queenstown Lakes deputy mayor John S. Wilson, said a $10 million investment programme was coming up for the airport.
The QAC had a greater knowledge of the aviation industry and the future challenges and growth predicted for Wanaka Airport, he said.
There were "potential complementary effects" for Wanaka by having a QAC management-based team handling the airport's growth and investment, Mr Wilson said. These included using Wanaka Airport as an alternative landing site for diverted flights and overflow services.
The Wanaka Airport Management Committee did not have specialist industry knowledge and was reliant upon advice whenever it made decisions about the long-term growth and investment in the airport.
• A working party has been formed to review the vexatious issue of jet-boat access to the remote Hunter River at the northern head of Lake Hawea.
The QLDC decided yesterday an original decision made by a Navigation Safety Bylaw hearings panel in October to uplift the existing 5 knot speed limit on the Hunter River was based on flawed information.
A new working party, to which Crs Mel Gazzard, of Queenstown, and Lyal Cocks and Leigh Overton, both of Wanaka, were appointed - will review the existing 5 knot speed limit bylaw again.
• Lake Wanaka Tourism received a $119,000 funding boost yesterday.
The boost was third on a list of significant changes made by council to the draft 10-year-plan and came after a submission from LWT chief executive James Helmore, last month.
LWT had gained a 68% approval from its members to seek more money from the council, which would be partly covered by an increase in a tourist levy collected from commercial and accommodation ratepayers in Wanaka.
Mr Helmore said the funding increase - a rise of almost 30% - was exciting for Wanaka tourism.
The funding boost will increase LWT's total budget to almost $700,000 by 2012. In comparison, Destination Queenstown has a total operating budget of about $2.9 million.
• Mr Geddes almost refused to accept a petition calling for Wanaka's ditched $11.5 million aquatic centre to be reinstated to the council's long-term plan after he took exception to strongly worded accusations levelled at councillors by Wanaka resident Paul Tamati, who presented the petition yesterday.
Deferring the proposed aquatic centre - which many residents want built next to schools at Kellys Flat - was a "deceitful and cunning pre-meditated plan" by the council, Mr Tamati claimed. He questioned the integrity of Wanaka's elected councillors.
The mayor said that under a strict reading of council standing orders he was not able to "legitimately" accept the petition, which could be considered as containing offensive language. However, because of the depth of feeling in Wanaka about the aquatic centre, he would allow it to be tabled.
