As the Queenstown Airport Corporation develops its key strategic documents for the next decade and beyond, it will have to follow more closely a recipe set by its majority shareholder.
That shareholder, the Queenstown Lakes District Council, began flexing its governance muscles yesterday when it approved an annual statement of expectation (SOE) for the airport company.
During more than two hours of discussion that Mayor Jim Boult called a "marathon effort, but a good one", councillors voted on a long list of amendments.
The SOE enables the council, which owns 75.01% of the company, to formally communicate to its board what it wants to see in its statement of intent (SOI) for the next financial year.
The SOI is an annual document produced by the company that sets its strategic direction for a three-year period.
However, some of the amendments adopted yesterday will influence the company’s longer-term direction.
The past three SOIs have been highly contentious as a growing number of councillors, spurred on by growing public concern about aircraft noise in Queenstown, the effects of unprecedented growth in tourism pre-Covid-19 and plans for expanding Wanaka Airport, have sought to exert greater control over the company’s strategic direction.
The SOE approved yesterday requires the company to clearly outline in its next SOI the scope of its 10-year plan and master plan.
The two plans, which must be formally approved by councillors before they can be implemented, must also be in sync with the council’s Wellbeing Framework document.
The 10-year plan must provide "certainty" that airport operations will remain with Queenstown Airport’s current air noise boundaries for the next 10 years.
All references to wide-bodied jets were removed from the SOE — Mr Boult said there was "no capability, no desire" to have such jets operating from Queenstown or Wanaka airports.
Of the 10 amendments tabled by councillors Niamh Shaw, Niki Gladding and Esther Whitehead, eight were approved.
Among them is the tasking of council staff to consider whether a "governance manual" for overseeing the airport company — effectively a how-to guide for councillors — should be written in time for next year’s SOE/SOI process.
Cr Whitehead said there had been "numerous failures" by the council in governing the company, dating back to the sale of 24.99% of its shares to Auckland International Airport in 2010.
The two hours it had taken councillors to refine the SOE to one they were happy with suggested they were still not following best practice, she said.
However, some councillors took issue with her final point, saying the long discussion was an example of good governance.
Cr Penny Clark said councillors were doing "a better job than we’ve ever done" in laying out its expectations to the QAC board, while Mr Boult said it showed "local democracy in action".
The airport company will produce a draft SOI next month, with public consultation to follow.
Councillors hope to approve the document in June.
