The backers of the proposed airport are not ruling out any more land purchases but simply do not know when or if they will be carried out.
Christchurch International Airport Ltd (CIAL) announced on Tuesday it had bought 40ha of land from Tarras farmer Philip Parcell. That is to go with the 750ha already bought by CIAL at the intersections of State Highway 8 and 8A. No more land is needed at this stage.
Mr Parcell had previously said he would never sell the land but had changed his mind. The terms of the deal were confidential and Mr Parcell has requested privacy.
When the Otago Daily Times went to visit Mr Parcell yesterday his gate was padlocked and he did not appear to be home.
CIAL has proposed to build a new airport at Tarras to service what it says is increasing demand for aviation services in Central Otago.
It is a long-term project with a multi-year outlook about the development of the airport and whether it will go ahead.
A CIAL spokeswoman said yesterday the next major announcement was around what runway alignment would be preferred.
A lot of work had gone into this decision and there was still one piece of key information needed before a decision could be made. With the bounce-back of the aviation sector, experts needed for this work had been busy on other projects but it was hoped they would be able to provide some expertise soon. No firm date could be given when this information would arrive. It was first envisaged this decision would have been made in the second quarter of last year
The two runway alignment options are the Lindis Valley-Lake Dunstan and Hawea Valley-Lake Dunstan approaches.
Depending on runway options and other decisions it may be that some time in the future that more land may be needed. When that would be, CIAL could not say as it depended on work which had not yet been carried out.
Meanwhile, Extinction Rebellion Otautahi demanded the Christchurch City Council stop the planned Tarras Airport at a council meeting in Christchurch yesterday. The council owns 75% of the airport and the Government owns the rest.
The group said reducing aviation emissions was insurmountable without demand management and there was absolutely no scope for the aviation technology optimism that underpinned the Tarras Airport proposal.
— Staff reporter
