Queenstown Airport Corporation will today present its case to independent commissioners Trevor Shiels and Christine Kelly in what could be one of the airport's most important resource consent applications to date.
The hearing, set down for four days, will discuss the airport corporation's plan change to provide a safety area at each end of the main runway, as required by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) standards.
The application was publicly notified on April 23 and 25 submissions were received, including five in support and four in opposition.
The proposed alteration relates to 6.4ha of land beyond the eastern end of the airport, on the true right of the Shotover River, just above the confluence of the Shotover and Kawarau Rivers.
The airport corporation is required by CAA rules to achieve a minimum 90m end safety area at each end of the runway at Queenstown Airport, which must be in place by October 2011.
The preferred option for the corporation is to provide for the safety areas through engineering fill, equating to a 40m-70m extension out from the existing terrace - which is about 350m wide at the "toe" - with the provision of a "bench" about 16m wide to accommodate a future road around the eastern extent of the engineered fill, about 6m below runway level.
Lakes Environmental senior planner Tim Williams said in his report the time-line for completion of the runway safety areas would be a maximum of three years.
"The notice identifies the most likely time-line for construction, if material is transported to the site via conventional truck and trailer units, would be two years and involve 20-30 trips - a trip being a one-way journey - per hour, six days a week, excluding a break at Christmas and some allowance for downtime during winter.
"The notice notes that if material can be sourced from the Shotover Delta and not transported on public roads, the use of large earthmoving machinery would make a one-year construction period feasible."
Associated traffic generation could create "adverse effects" and while the source of fill had not been confirmed, several possible sources had been identified, he said.
"With the exception of gravel being sourced from the Shotover River or Five Mile, the haulage of this material will require the use of the state highway network to varying extents."
One objective the commissioners needed to consider was the environmental effects of transportation, which included air transport, Mr Williams said.
"This objective and associated policies seek to recognise the important value that airports, including Queenstown's, provide to the community and to provide for the airport's growth [while] mitigating adverse effects on surrounding activities."
