Appeals Lodged Against Nelson Airport Runway Plan

Tuesday, 18 March 2025, 8:41 pm
Article: Max Frethey - Local Democracy Reporter

Nelson Airport’s future runway extension hit some turbulence last week.

The airport’s private plan change to enable the extension was appealed to the Environment Court by three Tāhunanui organisations, while an expectation that the airport improve its relationship with the surrounding community was debated by the region’s two councils.

It was announced last Tuesday that the Tāhuna Beach Holiday Park, the Nelson Golf Club, and the Tāhunanui Business and Citizens Association have all separately appealed Plan Change 30.

The operations of the holiday park and golf club would be severely disrupted by the airport’s plans, while the community association fears the impact the plan will have on the wider suburb.

Holiday park chief executive David Pattinson said the plan change was “untenable” for the campground.

The park has spent almost half a million dollars challenging the plan change and now will face additional costs appealing it.

It cost community group Save the Maitai about $350,000 to appeal Private Plan Change 28 in the last Nelson-based Environment Court appeal.

“I am extremely frustrated thinking about what I could have done with that money constructively for the park,” Pattinson said.

“However, when you’re faced with an event that will terminate us, we’re left with no choice but to appeal.”

He said new “onerous” building restrictions would make it “difficult, if not impossible” to develop the campground and would leave them unable to meet the future demands of visitors.

Additionally, he was concerned about the future of the camp’s long-term residents, who provide “significant” income for the park, despite council assurances they would not be evicted.

The park is currently in discussions with the airport, but Pattinson said there was “no meaningful progress” yet.

“I do believe there is a solution to be had.”

Nelson Golf Club general manager Tony Watkins said their appeal was a “placeholder”.

The club has indicated that it wouldn’t oppose the airport’s plan, with the longer runway occupying half of the club’s land, if it was able to reconfigure its 18-hole championship course onto an adjacent peninsula, partly owned by both the airport and Nelson City Council.

“We don’t have the comfort that we’re completely covered currently.”

Designs have been completed that show the reconfiguration was feasible.

However, Watkins said the club hasn’t yet received written assurances from the airport, as it was still waiting on an aeronautical report that would determine if its grass runway could continue to operate if the golf course was reconfigured.

The club also wanted assurances the airport would cover the cost of the reconfiguration – currently estimated at $60-80 million, including $15-20m for erosion protection on the low-lying peninsula – before the Public Works Act was reworked.

“A report has been done to say that a lot of that will be washed away if there was a major event,” Watkins said.

“We would be silly to agree to move down there unless there was some mitigation put in place.”

If the club got the assurances it wanted and was left no worse off than it was currently, it would withdraw its appeal.

“All we want, as of today, is a guarantee that we'll get exactly what we've got now, and it won't cost us anything.”

Watkins understood that the appeal hearing would be scheduled in about nine months' time, and was “hopeful” the club could reach an agreement with the airport.

A statement from the Tāhunanui Business and Citizens Association said it lodged its appeal because the plan change did not “provide for the safety and well-being” of the suburb.

The association said it supports positive growth and change, but the impacts of the airport’s plan as it currently stood were too great.

“The appeal gives Tāhunanui communities a voice in the process.”

Nelson City Council will respond to the appeal in the Environment Court. Both it and Nelson Airport declined to comment on the appeals.

The plan change was accompanied by a notice of requirement which together would enable the runway extension to go ahead.

Appeals on the notice of requirement close on 31 March and, if any were lodged, would be responded to by the airport, with the council potentially joining as a party.

It cost the council $133,000 to respond to the Plan Change 28 appeal.

The appeals come as the Nelson and Tasman councils, both 50% shareholders of the airport, have signalled their intent for the organisation to improve its relationship with the community.

On Thursday, the two councils discussed including a requirement that Infrastructure Holdings Limited (IHL), the holding company for Nelson Airport and Port Nelson, must give regard to community interests in its Statement of Intent.

The Tāhunanui Business and Citizens Association, the Tāhuna Beach Holiday Park, and the Nelson Airport Noise Action Council all indicated their support for the clause at the joint meeting due to their concerns with the airport, though it would also apply to the port.

Elected members declined to include the clause in the Statement of Intent due to procedural concerns and the potential of it being used to justify legal challenges against IHL and its subsidiaries.

However, they were supportive of including such a clause in the next Statement of Expectation for the 2026/27 financial year, which wouldn’t carry the same legal weight, but would have the progress towards meeting that expectation regularly reported to elected members.

In the meantime, the region’s two mayors will write to IHL, with the airport and port copied in, to advise them that they expect it to work towards improving its relationship with the community immediately.

Indications at Thursday’s joint meeting suggested that the airport was already working towards that goal, with holiday park chair Steve Cross saying that the airport appeared to be trying to “build bridges” with the community.

“Although, so far, the olive branches haven’t translated to meaningful actions.”

Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said the organisations were already meeting to repair relationships, and that the letter and future addition to the Statement of Expectation signalled the councils’ support for continuing that course of action.

“I genuinely think that there is huge goodwill by all those organisations to make a step change in [their relationships].”

Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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