The following is a Statement from Queenstown Lakes District Mayor, Jim Boult, in response to the Queenstown Airport Corporation (QAC) Noise Boundary variation pre-consultation, and QAC’s related announcement today.

“I believe the QAC has been through an open and robust round of engagement and I commend them for that. I also acknowledge that they are genuinely listening and responding to our community, as well as taking insight from other organisations, plans and strategies, including those of QLDC, to inform how they proceed in this process. Council certainly supports an integrated approach as suggested by the QAC team, to ensure the right outcome for the community, for visitors to our district and for the associated tourism sector. The future growth of the district, what that may look like and how that impacts our community, is something that this Council is very focused on. As we continue to drive master planning in Queenstown, Wanaka and Frankton, the conversation with the community around air noise boundaries at Queenstown Airport has been timely. I think the QAC’s process has helped to underline for all parties the criticality of ensuring key strategic asset growth in our district must consider a broader context. In that respect I think it has been a valuable discussion that can usefully influence QAC as it continues to consider its future planning and for QLDC as we continue our strategic work to ensure a great future for our district.”

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