4 April 2023
David Hawkins
[FYI request #21952 email]
REF: OIA-12130
Dear David
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your email of 1 March 2023 requesting the following information under the Official
information Act 1982:
Meetings requested by or involving CIAL (whether by employees, contractors or subcontractors)
between 1 July 2020 and 24 Feb 2023 including meeting topic, agenda and presentations
provided before, during or as a follow up to a meeting.
On 29 March 2023 your request was extended as allowed under section of 15A of the Act to allow for
consultations required to make a decision on your request. We are now able to provide you with our
response.
As a first step, we carried out an agency-wide email sweep to find any meeting invites, agendas or
any discussions about meetings between Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and the Christchurch
International Airport Limited (CIAL). Following your last refinement of 30 March 2023, we searched
emails using the “Tarras” keyword only, which returned 133 items. To ensure reasonable efforts were
made to locate all of the information you have requested, we have also searched our internal
documents database for any documents that may be in scope.
The above searches for information resulted in the below list which outlines all meetings we were able
to confirm taking place between Waka Kotahi and CIAL in the time period you have specified.
1. Meeting on 7 April 2021 was between Waka Kotahi staff Ian Duncan, Tony MacColl, Tony
Sizemore, Chad Barker and Richard Shaw, and CIAL representative Rhys Boswell. Topic of this
meeting was CIAL’s process for investigating feasibility of Tarras Airport.
2. Meeting on 16 April 2021 was between Waka Kotahi Chief Executive Nicole Rosie and CIAL’s
CEO at the time Malcolm Jones. Topic of the discussion was the proposed Tarras Airport.
An internal memo prepared for this meeting (Ref: BRI-2154) is attached and has been released to
you in full.
The community drop-in information booklet presented at the meeting is publicly available at
https://www.centralotagoairport.co.nz/uploads/images/Community-Drop-in-
Information_March2021.pdf. Therefore, I refuse the copy of the booklet under section 18(d) of the
Act.
3. Meeting on 5 July 2021 was between Waka Kotahi staff James Caygill, Richard Osborne, and
Richard Shaw and CIAL representatives Rhys Boswell and Michael Singleton. Topic – Airport
Discussion.
4. Meeting on 6 July 2022 was between James Caygill from Waka Kotahi and Rhys Boswell from
CIAL regarding Central Otago Airport Project Update.
5. Meeting on 23 Sept 2022 was between Waka Kotahi staff Richard Osborne and Chad Barker, and
CIAL representative Rhys Boswell. Topic of the meeting was CIAL’s update on progress of Tarras
Airport feasibility work.
Other than the briefing we have provided and the booklet that is publicly available, Waka Kotahi does
not hold any agendas, meeting notes or any other documents related to these five meetings.
Therefore, this part of your request is refused under section 18(g) of the Act as the information
requested is not held by Waka Kotahi and we have no grounds for believing that the information is
either: (i) held by another department; or (ii) connected more closely with the functions of another
department.
Under section 28 of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision to
refuse certain information. The contact details for the Ombudsman can be located at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
If you would like to discuss this response with Waka Kotahi, please contact Ministerial Services by
email to [NZTA request email].
Yours sincerely
Robyn Elston
National Manager System Design
