PO Box 14001
Christchurch 8544
New Zealand
Telephone (+64 3) 358 5029
christchurchairport.co.nz
22 September 2023
Dawn Bosley
Email: [FYI request #23955 email]
Tēnā koe Dawn
OFFICIAL INFORMATION ACT 1982 (OIA) – REQUEST FOR INFORMATION -
CHRISTCHURCH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LIMITED (CIAL)
1.
We write further to our email of 28 August 2023, acknowledging receipt of your OIA
request of 25 August 2023 seeking information (if held by CIAL) in relation to the
proposed Central Otago airport project:
Request : Received 25 August – Community connection and engagement
“Could I please see a list, month by month since the announcement of the airport in
July 2020, of all groups CIAL has met with in the Central Otago Community?”
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 your specific query, 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(2)(i) and s9(2)(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 plans, analysis, work or negotiations within specific work
streams.
4.
As you may be aware, 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 1986.
5.
As an airport, CIAL has a further overriding obligation under the Airport Authorities
Act 1966, and reinforced by the Civil Aviation Act 2023, 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.
In respect of your request, we advise:
6.
While CIAL is under no legal obligation to consult in relation to the Project or otherwise
publicly engage at present, in order to assist public understanding of the context of
the Project and CIAL's decisions, CIAL has committed to respectfully engaging with
the community. CIAL’s approach to engagement can be found at its dedicated Project
Website
https://www.centralotagoairport.co.nz/.
7.
To date, CIAL has met with a number of different individuals and entities, including
specific representatives of community groups, business groups, businesses, and local
authorities. CIAL is confident that where there has been a reasonable request to meet,
it has done so in line with its approach to engagement described above and its
statutory requirements.
8.
In terms of groups that CIAL has met with and presented to
in relation to the Project,
a general summary is provided below.
Description
Further details and Virtual or in-
dates
person
1. Members of the public, Tarras July 2020
In person
Community Hall
2. Members
of
the
public, March 2021, August In person
Community Drop-in Days, Tarras 2023
Community Hall
3. Members
of
the
public, August 2023
In person
Community
Drop-in
Days,
Cromwell Presbyterian Hall
4. Members
of
the
public, August 2023
In person
Community
Drop-in
Days,
Edgewater Resort Wanaka
5. Mana whenua
Hui with 3 Papatipu Both in person
Rūnunga
and
their and
virtual
representatives
at format
various dates
6. Various community & member Various dates
Both in person
groups and organisations
and
virtual
format
7. Education
Institutions Cromwell College (Q2 In person
(Secondary
Schools
and 2022), Dunstan High
Universities)
School (Q2 2022), Mt
Aspiring College (Q3
2021 and Q2 2022),
University of Otago
Geography Department
(Q3 2023)
8. Various business & industry Various dates (including Both in person
groups and organisations
Wanaka Chamber of and
virtual
Commerce July 2023)
format
9. Local Authorities (Central Otago Various Dates
Both in person
District
Council,
Cromwell
and
virtual
Community
Board,
Otago
format
Regional Economic Development
(ORED) Working Group)
10. Sector Workshops
July 2022
In person
11. Conferences / Seminars
Aviation
Conference In person
2023
(Note, the Project
was discussed within
talks given at this
conference, but was not
the entire focus of the
talk)
9.
Except as described in rows 1 to 4, and 9 above, those include non-public meetings
or events where CIAL has responded to invitations to it to speak. CIAL is not able to
disclose further information including the specific identity of each of those groups or
organisations with the information requested being withheld under section 9(2)(i) of
the OIA.
10.
We trust we have answered your requests for information. If you require any further
information or if we have in some way misinterpreted your requests, please let us
know.
11.
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: [Christchurch International Airport Limited request email]
