In a turbulent hearing, Queenstown Lakes district councillors overwhelmingly rejected a staff recommendation to install QAC as the programme manager for the delivery of the Wānaka Airport master plan.
After councillors voted against the staff’s recommended option, councillors agreed to find ‘‘external specialists’’ to map out the required upgrade to allow the airport to continue to operate and to return domestic flights to Christchurch or Wellington.
In a 10-2 vote, Matt Wong and Stephen Brent were the only two councillors who voted against.
It took councillors more than an hour of debate to reject the council-controlled QAC and, after an adjournment, less than 10 minutes to agree to find external specialists for the job.
The master plan will work towards a vision for the airport agreed upon earlier this year.
Queenstown Lakes District Mayor John Glover said the option recommended by staff seemed unnecessarily complicated.
‘‘We’re not developing a traditional airport, which is ZQN’s bread and butter and QAC’s bread and butter — we’re looking for what is that sweet spot for the community.
‘‘The question council is having to deal with is what’s the best way to manage it in a way that is simple and there is no perceived conflict and we’re not putting QAC in a difficult position,’’ he said.
Deputy mayor Quentin Smith said a QLDC-led in-house client team gave the council the ability to develop the scope of the project with staff.
‘‘It allows us to procure all the external services that we require and the extent to which we require them.
‘‘It might be a full service package, it might be individual providers for different issues, but it provides maximum flexibility,’’ he said.
The option selected by councillors will be worked through by QLDC staff and presented to council for further decision making.
Wānaka Stakeholders Group chairwoman Meg Taylor said she was pleased to see the recommendation to have QAC lead the master plan process rejected.
‘‘We think the master planning needs to be independent, led by people with experience in planning for these sorts of strategic assets.
‘‘It was really nice to see engaged councillors wanting to keep the process rigorous and able to stand up to scrutiny.’’
Ms Taylor said having QAC as lead for the Wānaka Airport master plan would have run directly counter to ensuring a robustly independent and community-driven master plan.
‘‘Putting the fox in the hen house comes to mind,’’ she said.
The airport’s master plan was last updated in 2008.
In 2023, the Civil Aviation Authority issued formal notice that the airport must meet a higher standard of compliance by July 2027, requiring mandatory safety, operational and management upgrades.
Then, in 2025, Sounds Air ended its services to the airport, leaving Wānaka with no scheduled regional services, intensifying community interest in the airport’s future.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council has directed officers to report back with options for implementing.
The new Wānaka Airport master plan will deliver the future for the airport chosen by councillors where Wānaka Airport serves as a general aviation airport with domestic flights to Christchurch and/or Wellington.
