(Tarras, 31 October 2022) A proposal to build a new international jet airport in Central Otago suffers from a “severe lack of social licence”, according to a new video released today. The video, launched by Sustainable Tarras, highlights not just the immediate community’s concerns and opposition to the airport, but evidence of a lack of social licence throughout Central Otago and well beyond.

Marilyn Duxson, deputy chair of Sustainable Tarras, said that the lack of social licence is well documented. “There are numerous surveys and reports which clearly show that Christchurch Airport doesn’t have a mandate to do this in Central Otago. It’s not just those of us living in Tarras who feel this way, but people throughout Central Otago and further afield. The video also highlights industry commentators, experts and media saying the same thing.”

Yet the members of Sustainable Tarras are concerned that the Christchurch Airport team are ignoring this concern and “ ploughing on, regardless.” Dr Duxson said that despite numerous requests, her group and many others are getting “no answers, no engagement and no real dialogue” from the airport company. They are concerned that they are creating a “facade of carefully curated meetings” so that later they can claim that they have community support.

“It’s bad enough that they won’t engage with us here in Tarras, at the epicentre of their proposed projects. We’ve been asking for answers and open dialogue for over 830 days. Telling us to refer to their project website for updates shows a real lack of respect for the community, and complete disregard of the questions we are asking. We don’t need PR spin and general statements - we need dialogue. We need honesty.”

The video, which is around 8 minutes long, has been published on YouTube, with the full script also being published online, with footnotes containing links and references. “We want to be very transparent about our sources of information and data.”

This is the third in a series of videos entitled “The Central Otago Airport Files” which the group is publishing to stimulate open, transparent, public debate about the proposed airport, and raise awareness of serious concerns. The first episode focussed on Christchurch Airport’s claim to be “climate positive” and related concerns around carbon emissions. The second episode zeroed in on concerns about the airport’s potential impact on the people of Christchurch.

Marilyn Duxon says that there is widespread concern that decisions are being made behind closed doors, without sufficient community involvement. “Christchurch Airport isn't providing the full picture,” she said. “So we will share everything we can.”

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