It is good for the city and region that all the appeals on extending Nelson Airport’s runway are now resolved with the agreement reached between the airport company and the Tāhunanui Business and Citizens Association on Monday.
This follows the agreement reached with the Tāhuna Beach Holiday Park last October and Nelson Golf Club in December.
We are an isolated city in one of the most isolated countries in the world and our airlinks are vital to our prosperity. We have the busiest regional airport in NZ but one of the shortest runways at only 1347m. It compares with Hamilton’s at 2195m, Tauranga’s 1825m, Napier’s 1750m, Blenheim’s 1425m and Invercargill’s 2210m.
Nelson Airport, owned 50/50 by the Nelson and Tasman councils, lodged the application for Plan Change 30 (for the 370m extension) in 2023. Council had a conflict as part owner of the airport, so the request was referred to independent commissioners. The application was supported by Air New Zealand, but many Tāhunanui residents and organisations objected. There is a noise impact of the runway extension for Tāhunanui but not nearly as much as from increased air traffic and mitigation measures were included in the plan.
The commissioners recommended, after considering the 470 submissions and days of hearings, that the Plan Change be approved. Council concurred in December 2024, having little legal scope to differ from the independent commissioners’ 333-page report, albeit in a tight vote 7-6.
Council’s decision was appealed to the Environment Court. I am pleased all three appeals are now settled. This saves the ratepayers, the airport company, golf club, holiday park and community association a small fortune in legal costs.
The timing of the runway extension will depend on actual growth in passenger numbers and airlines’ future choice of aircraft. The importance of getting the environmental rules sorted is to enable the airport to plan ahead and avoid new facilities being built on land in its pathway.
These long-term infrastructure issues are difficult and too often we fail to plan ahead. The airport is our gateway to the wider world and it’s good for the region to have a plan for its future settled.
