Tarras residents might have been taken by surprise earlier this year by plans for an international airport in their district, but Christchurch International Airport Ltd’s shareholders were given a strong hint of what was to come months before.
The company yesterday posted on its website its statement of intent for the year ending June 30, 2021.
Under a section called "nature and scope of activities", the company said it intended to "proactively investigate opportunities beyond a single site".
The statement of intent for the previous year made no mention of any intentions outside of the company’s Christchurch airport site.
Under the Local Government Act, a draft statement of intent must be delivered to shareholders by March 1 and contain the company’s objectives and the nature and scope of the activities to be undertaken.
The airport company’s shareholders are Christchurch City Council-owned Christchurch City Holdings Ltd (75.00%), the Minister of Finance (12.50%) and the Minister of State Owned Enterprises (12.50%).
The public first heard about the airport development plans officially on July 22 when the company announced it had spent $45million buying 750ha of farmland at Tarras.
