Initial reply received via email (from CIAL) 10 October 2022

10 October 2022
Rob van der Mark

Tēnā koe Mr van der Mark,
OFFICIAL INFORMATION ACT 1982 (OIA) – REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION -
CHRISTCHURCH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LIMITED (CIAL)
1. We write further to our email of 21 September 2022, acknowledging receipt of your
two OIA requests of 14 and 15 September 2022 seeking the following information (if
held by CIAL) in relation to the proposed Central Otago airport project:
Request 1: Received 14 September - Plans and Contractors
a. preliminary design work;
b. master plan; and
c. full list of external consultants and experts that:
i. have been approached; and
ii. have been contracted on the proposed Central Otago airport project.
Request 2: Received 15 September - CIAL Board Commitment
a. date of the latest CIAL board meeting where the board confirmed its commitment
to continue to pursue the Central Otago airport project;
b. copy of the report submitted to the board for such meeting;
c. date of the last meeting where a go/no go recommendation from management to
the board on the new airport was decided; and
d. result and minutes from this go/no go decision meeting.
2. CIAL will provide you with the requested information where it is able. However, you
will note within this letter that it is occasionally unable to release requested
information if it would prejudice or disadvantage CIAL’s commercial activities. Before
we answer you specific queries, it may be helpful to provide some context to this.

3. The OIA permits an organisation to refuse to release requested information it holds if
the withholding of such information is necessary to enable the organisation to carry
out its commercial activities or negotiations without prejudice or disadvantage (s 9(i)
and s9(j) OIA) provided that such withholding is not outweighed in the circumstances
by the public interest in making the specific information available. For example, while
it may be in the public interest to understand that CIAL is investigating the feasibility
of establishing an airport in Central Otago that does not mean CIAL must share every
detail of its analysis, work or negotiations within specific work streams.
4. At present CIAL is under no legal obligation to consult in relation to the Project. To
assist public understanding of the context of the Project and CIAL’s decisions, CIAL
has committed to, and does, proactively publish information as it completes pieces of

work which is likely to be in the public interest to receive on its dedicated Project web-
site at https://www.centralotagoairport.co.nz/. Until work is completed, it is not

capable of being released. Over time this will see more information voluntarily
released. In such instances the public interest test will have been considered and
weighed up as part of the decision whether to release information or not. Equally,
each OIA query CIAL receives will be assessed on a case by case basis given the
particular given facts and circumstances at play at that time.
5. CIAL is a council-controlled trading organisation that has been specifically established
to operate and manage its business as an independent commercial undertaking for
the purposes of making a profit, and to follow generally accepted commercial practices
and disciplines. CIAL is not a public body collecting and spending public funds. It
operates as a wholly commercial, standalone entity. Due to the size and scale of those
activities it is one of only three major airports in New Zealand regulated under Part 4
of the Commerce Act.
6. As an airport CIAL has a further overriding obligation under the Airport Authorities Act
to act as a commercial undertaking. It does so in a commercially competitive
environment both domestically and internationally, where its competitors are not
under corresponding disclosure requirements. The proposed Central Otago airport
project is a complex commercial activity, acknowledged as being in competition with
the interests of other airports within New Zealand.
7. Taking each of your specific queries in turn, we respond as follows:
Request 1:
a. preliminary design work – CIAL’s investigation of a new regional airport for
Central Otago is at an early stage. An explanation of those stages and the
interconnected workstreams can be found at the Project website
(https://www.centralotagoairport.co.nz). CIAL is currently in the ‘Validation and
Planning’ phase of the project – that is, getting all of its information together. As
a consequence, CIAL has not yet prepared or undertaken Preliminary Design work
of the proposed Central Otago airport;
b. master plan - See above, no such master planning documentation exists. CIAL
would not expect to carry out master planning work for the site until later in the
Project; and
c. full list of external consultants and experts that:
i. have been approached; and
ii. have been contracted on the proposed Central Otago airport project.
The Project is in the process of obtaining and analysing information related to the
Project, which is a complex commercial activity. The disclosure of the identity of

consultants and experts engaged by CIAL, or who may have been approached
by, or approached CIAL, but are not engaged is information that may impact on
CIAL’s ability to carry out its commercial activities in relation to the Project
without disadvantage. As it completes and publishes pieces of work as described
above, it will revisit the public interest in releasing the requested information as
it relates to that piece of work. Accordingly, at this time, this information is
withheld under Section 9(2)(i) of the OIA.
Request 2:
a. date of the latest CIAL board meeting where the board confirmed its
commitment to continue to pursue the Central Otago airport project – No
such information exists. The Board of CIAL approved the strategy to acquire land
and investigate a new regional airport for Central Otago prior to the acquisition of
land at Tarras during 2019 and 2020. The Board meets on, largely, a monthly
cycle and is provided with updates on the Project from the CIAL Chief Executive
and/or the Project Director alongside other Executive Reports it receives to
consider. The Board has not had cause to reconsider its commitment to the
Project. Copies of those minutes are withheld on the grounds set out in Section
9(2)(g) and (i), of the OIA (being necessary to maintain the effective conduct of
affairs through the free and frank expression of opinions and to enable CIAL to
carry out its commercial activities without prejudice or disadvantage);
b. copy of the report submitted to the board for such meeting – As above;
c. date of the last meeting where a go/no go recommendation from
management to the board on the new airport was decided – As above.
There has not been a “go/no go” recommendation from Management to the Board.
The decision gateways for the Project can be found at the Project website
(https://www.centralotagoairport.co.nz);
d. result and minutes from this go/no go decision meeting – As above.
8. We trust we have answered your requests for information. If you require any further
information or we have in some way misinterpreted your requests, please let us know.
9. You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of the
decisions contained in this letter. Information about how to contact the Ombudsman
or make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone
0800 802 602.

Yours sincerely
CIAL LEGAL TEAM
Email: legal@cial.co.nz