Remarkables Park is seeking to be a "favourable" site for another Queenstown high school if developers are permitted to expand the Frankton development.
The Ministry of Education this week supported Remarkables Park Ltd's bid for resource consent to expand the Frankton development, saying it aligned with the ministry's plans for a new high school in the area.
The Environment Court has been meeting in Queenstown to consider a private plan change (PC34) which would see the company expand its Frankton development. Ministry representative Katia Fraser said the Remarkables Park site was "looking very favourable", but a new high school would be inside the airport's outer control boundary, making airport noise a problem for pupils.
Mrs Fraser said Minister of Education Anne Tolley would prefer a site with the "least noise possible".
The proposed high school would be the second school within the boundary - Remarkables Primary School opened last year.
The Queenstown Airport Corporation strongly opposed PC34.
Air New Zealand, along with private submitters, had reservations about Remarkables Park's plans.
Airport chief executive Steve Sanderson said the airport was one of the fastest growing in Australia and New Zealand and the corporation opposed the plan change because it hoped to expand further.
In the company's last financial year, ended June 30, 924,248 passengers passed through the terminal, a 13.9% increase on the previous year.
"In my opinion, protecting the airport's ongoing operation and providing for its future growth is vital to Queenstown's economy."
A "complicated land swap" took place between the two parties in 1997, which gave Remarkables Park a larger landholding for its development, and Mr Sanderson said it was "ironic" the corporation was seeking to get the land back.
He said Remarkables Park had opposed Queenstown Airport's acquisition of their land and so the airport had started on plan change 35 (PC35) to expand the district plan noise boundaries around them.
PC35 is before the Environment Court and is scheduled to be heard in January 2012.
Remarkables Park representatives made submissions to independent commissioners David Whitney, of Alexandra, Bob Nixon, of Christchurch, and Brian Waddell, of Auckland, that the extra land could provide for retail, commercial, residential, educational, accommodation, recreational and community purposes.
