A long-awaited socio-economic impact assessment which could help determine the future of the district’s airports has been made public today (June 16).

The assessment was first signalled at a heated council meeting last August which followed significant community backlash to the proposed development of Wanaka Airport.

Completed by consultancy MartinJenkins, the 236-page assessment report provides an independent view of the economic and social impacts of the district’s existing airports’ infrastructure, and how they compare under four hypothetical airport development scenarios.

MartinJenkin’s four scenarios are: status quo, expanded noise boundaries at Queenstown Airport, scheduled services at Wanaka Airport, and new international airport. 

‘Status quo’ was the only of the four options which stakeholders across the district saw as ‘positive’.

[Page 33 of the report] Positive numbers show that overall sentiment is positive, negative numbers show that overall sentiment is negative. The distance from zero shows the strength of positivity/negativity (minimum possible value is -2 and maximum possible value is +2). Source: MartinJenkins

“Across all areas, survey respondents are positive overall about Scenario 1 [status quo] and negative overall about the remaining three scenarios,” the report says.

The second scenario, expanded noise boundaries at Queenstown Airport had a “strongly negative” feedback, which MartinJenkins noted was in line with previous consultations.

The option for scheduled services at Wanaka Airport had the strongest negative response from people in Wanaka and its surrounds, which MartinJenkins called “unsurprising”.

The scenario for scheduled services at Wanaka Airport had the strongest negative response from people based in the Upper Clutha

Under this scenario, flights operating at Wanaka Airport would “ramp up” so that in 2031 the airport would have 400,000 passenger movements - roughly equivalent to Invercargill Airport.

“Some stakeholders are enthusiastic about the personal, business, and economic opportunities that they think would flow from opening up Wanaka Airport to scheduled flights. Others are concerned about this scenario leading to unmanaged growth in Wanaka, which could both overwhelm local infrastructure and change the character of the town.”

The new international airport scenario, MartinJenkins said, draws less intense opposition “but survey respondents from all areas are still negative about it overall”. 

MartinJenkins said it used an online survey and a series of focus groups to understand the broad sentiments about airport infrastructure in the community.

Mayor Jim Boult said the effects of COVID-19 on the world economy meant any development at the district’s airport was now likely to be “many years away”, but the report was still informative.

“It has been valuable to see the broad range of impacts associated with the airports, and these will be important for the council, the Queenstown Airport Corporation and the community as specific development scenarios and future masterplans are being developed,” he said.

MartinJenkins principal consultant Jason Leung-Wai said the report confirmed the important role the airport’s connectivity provides to the district’s residents and businesses.

“This counts both economically and socially, and even more so in the new COVID-19 environment,” Jason said. “We hope that the report provides the frameworks and information that will allow decision-makers to better understand the positive and negative impacts associated with airport infrastructure.”

Read MartinJenkins socio-economic impact assessment report here.

PHOTOS: Supplied