The airport’s board had already adopted the legal document.
While Wanaka-based councillor Quentin Smith described the SOI process, over many years, as "a battleground", the relationship between the council — the majority shareholder of the airport — and the airport corporation had "come a long way".
"It’s not necessarily perfect in everyone’s view, but it is a representation of the collective view of the council and working with QAC [Queenstown Airport Corporation]."
Cr Lyal Cocks said the airport was "strategically and economically important" for the district, so having a positive working relationship with the airport corporation and getting the SOI over the line was a "major achievement".
He said there were many checks and balances in the document, therefore he was comfortable the council would be managing it, and any risks, in future.
However Cr Gladding took an opposing view.
She said the council’s risk appetite was low, given its debt limits, "and we can’t bail out QAC, obviously".
"So we’re putting significant faith in the [airport] board to ensure that we get those dividends, as forecast, because it’s an assumption in our long-term plan that they come through as forecast."
Further, she said the council was being asked to agree to the SOI at a time when tourism growth was causing "massive pressures" across the district.
"From housing to emissions, we’ve got peak capacity requirements and they’re all causing costs, and we’ve got ratepayers that are struggling to pay their rates.
"While we’re also enabling more tourists to come in, we’re also funding a lot of programmes that try to deal with the pressures that causes, so we’re sort of enabling the problem at the same time as we’re funding the solutions.
"So for that reason ... I can’t agree to the SOI," she said.
