In a public forum submission at the council’s full meeting on Thursday, Cath Gilmour said the statement of intent (SOI) process was the council’s main opportunity to direct the airport on its strategic goals.
The Queenstown Airport Corporation’s (QAC) stalled noise boundary expansion plans had stemmed from "vital strategic decisions" that should be made by the council and community, not the airport.
The SOI process had largely been an "annual rubber-stamping exercise" to date, Ms Gilmour said.
"If the SOI process is not actively driven by the council and the community, then QAC’s resultant business plan will continue to be driven primarily by the demands of the airlines."
Airlines were not concerned about the impact of their demands because the costs — congestion, noise, pressure on infrastructure and loss of development rights for landholders — were externalised.
"The strong opposition to QAC’s plans showed a clear risk of loss of social licence for the tourism industry . . . and if you lose that, the golden goose of Queenstown tourism is totally cooked."
The airport put its expansion plans on hold in October after strong opposition from the community and many businesses.
The proposed district plan variation would have enabled 41,600 flights to land in the resort by 2045 — double the 21,000 movements allowed for by the present inner and outer noise boundaries.It would have allowed a more-than-doubling of annual passenger movements from 2.05 million to about 5.1 million.
Ms Gilmour said the fact 94% of the community and business sector opposed the plans showed there was little support for "unmitigated growth".
She proposed the council write a "letter of expectations" setting out its expectations of the QAC, and make it public.
That would ensure the company’s statement of intent was aligned with the council’s strategic goals as 75.01% shareholder. She also called for an "open, transparent and timely" discussion between the council and community about the issue.
This year’s statement of intent must be signed off by the council in June.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult said the council would be "actively engaging" with the QAC on the process for reviewing its statement of intent.
However, the company had been "progressing well under the current SOI".
"I anticipate the direction for the company will be largely consistent with the current strategic intent.
"We would continue to expect to see the company consulting widely and genuinely on key strategic matters."
