In July 2020, it was reported Christchurch International Airport (CIAL) had been buying up hundreds of hectares of farmland in Tarras, about 25 minutes’ drive from Cromwell, with the intention to one day build an international airport at the site.
At the time, Phillip Parcell said he would not sell 40ha to the company as he did not need the money and was attached to the land where he was born and still lived.
Unlike the farmland next door, his old-school oasis had not been cleared of trees to allow for irrigation pivots.
It still had a ramshackle collection of elderly tractors and farm buildings, including a mud-brick teamster’s shed.
It was the last farm at Tarras to stop using draught horses and it was the second farm subdivided in 1882 from the giant Morven Hills Station, Mr Parcell said at the time.
His property was what remained of the much bigger sheep farm bought by his father John after he served five years in the desert in World War 2.
Yesterday, CIAL chief strategy and stakeholder officer Michael Singleton said the company had bought the property owned by Mr Parcell, next to the 750ha of land at the intersections of State Highway 8 and 8A it already owned.
The terms of the deal were confidential and Mr Parcell had asked media to respect his privacy.
He would be able to continue occupying the land, Mr Singleton said.
"We have a lot of work under way exploring the potential for the airport and were very happy for Philip to stay connected with his land in the interim.
"We haven’t made a decision on whether the project will proceed but the reality is any construction would be years away," he said.
Earlier this month, Mr Singleton said CIAL would in the coming weeks release information about where exactly it wanted the airport’s runway to be built.
— Staff reporter
