PO Box 14001
Christchurch 8544
New Zealand
Telephone (+64 3) 358 5029
christchurchairport.co.nz
11 September 2023
Mike Moody
Email: c/-
[FYI request #23834 email]
Dear Mr Moody,
OFFICIAL INFORMATION ACT 1982 (OIA) – REQUEST FOR INFORMATION - CHRISTCHURCH
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LIMITED (CIAL)
1.
We write further to our email of 16 August 2023, acknowledging receipt of your email of 14 August
2023 (via the third party public platform fyi.org.nz) in which you requested the following information
pursuant to the OIA:
“a list of all dates and locations (eg town or Zoom) showing which groups or organisations CIAL or
its contractors have presented to in relation to the proposed new airport in Central Otago. Please
provide a full list in chronological order.”
(referred to in this letter as “
Request 1”)
“Please also provide the detailed engagement plan the team is working to, and details of the
engagement budget, or if there isn’t one, costs associated with engagement - even if a near
guesstimate.”
(referred to in this letter “
Request 2”)
2.
CIAL will provide you with the requested information where it is able. However, you will note within
this letter that it is occasionally unable to release requested information if it would prejudice or
disadvantage CIAL’s commercial activities. Before we answer your specific query, it may be helpful
to provide some context to this.
3.
The OIA permits an organisation to refuse to release requested information it holds if the withholding
of such information is necessary to enable the organisation to carry out its commercial activities or
negotiations without prejudice or disadvantage (s 9(2)(i) and s9(2)(j) OIA) provided that such
withholding is not outweighed in the circumstances by the public interest in making the specific
information available. For example, while it may be in the public interest to understand that CIAL is
investigating the feasibility of establishing an airport in Central Otago that does not mean CIAL must
share every detail of its plans, analysis, work or negotiations within specific work streams.
4.
At present, CIAL is under no legal obligation to consult in relation to the proposed Central Otago
airport project (“the
Project”). To assist public understanding of the context of the Project and CIAL’s
decisions, CIAL has committed to, and does, proactively publish information as it completes pieces
of work which is likely to be in the public interest to receive on its dedicated Project web-site at
https://www.centralotagoairport.co.nz/ (the
Project Website).
5.
As you may be aware, CIAL is a council-controlled trading organisation that has been specifically
established to operate and manage its business as an independent commercial undertaking for the
purposes of making a profit, and to follow generally accepted commercial practices and disciplines.
CIAL is not a public body collecting and spending public funds. It operates as a wholly commercial,
standalone entity. Due to the size and scale of those activities it is one of only three major airports
in New Zealand regulated under Part 4 of the Commerce Act 1986.
6.
As an airport, CIAL has a further overriding obligation under the Airport Authorities Act 1966, and
reinforced by the Civil Aviation Act 2023, to act as a commercial undertaking. It does so in a
commercially competitive environment both domestically and internationally, where its competitors
are not under corresponding disclosure requirements. The proposed Central Otago airport Project is
a complex commercial activity, acknowledged as being in competition with the interests of other
airports within New Zealand.
Request 1
7.
In relation to Request 1, as we noted to you in our letter of 28 August 2023 sent via the third party
public platform fyi.org.nz (responding to a separate request you made on 31 July 2023 (the
Previous
Request)), information on CIAL’s approach to engagement can be found at its Project Website.
While, as noted above, CIAL is under no legal obligation to consult in relation to the Project or
otherwise publicly engage at present, in order to assist public understanding of the context of the
Project and CIAL's decisions, CIAL has committed to respectfully engaging with the community. To
date, CIAL has also met with a number of different individuals and entities, including specific
representatives of community groups, business groups, businesses, and local authorities. CIAL is
confident that where there has been a reasonable request to meet, it has done so in line with its
approach to engagement described above and its statutory requirements.
8.
In terms of groups and organisations that CIAL has presented to
in relation to the Project, a general
summary is provided below.
Description
Further
details
and Virtual
or
in-
dates
person
1. Members
of
the
public,
Tarras July 2020
In person
Community Hall
2. Members of the public, Community March 2021, August 2023
In person
Drop-in Days, Tarras Community Hall
3. Members of the public, Community August 2023
In person
Drop-in Days, Cromwell Presbyterian
Hall
4. Members of the public, Community August 2023
In person
Drop-in
Days,
Edgewater
Resort
Wanaka
5. Mana whenua
Hui
with
3
Papatipu Both in person and
Rūnunga
and
their virtual format
representatives at various
dates
6. Various community & member groups Various dates
Both in person and
and organisations
virtual format
7. Education
Institutions
(Secondary Cromwell
College
(Q2 In person
Schools and Universities)
2022),
Dunstan
high
School (Q2 2022), Mt
Aspiring College (Q3 2021
and Q2 2022), Kaikorai
Valley College (Q3 2023),
University
of
Otago
Geography
Department
(Q3 2023)
8. Various business & industry groups and Various dates (including Both in person and
organisations
Wanaka
Chamber
of virtual format
Commerce July 2023)
9. Local Authorities (Central Otago District Various Dates
Both in person and
Council, Cromwell Community Board,
virtual format
Christchurch City Council, Southland
Mayoral
Forum,
Otago
Regional
Economic Development (ORED) Working
Group)
10. Sector Workshops
July 2022
In person
11. Conferences / Seminars
Aviation Conference 2023, In person
NZ
Infrastructure
Conference 2022
(Note,
the Project was discussed
within talks given at these
conferences, but was not
the entire focus of the talk)
9.
Except as described in rows 1 to 4, and 9 above, those include non-public meetings or events where
CIAL has responded to invitations to it to speak. CIAL is not able to disclose further information
including the specific identity of each of those groups or organisations with the information requested
being withheld under section 9(2)(i) of the OIA.
Request 2
10.
In relation to Request 2, we note you made a very similar request pursuant to your Previous Request
where you requested details of
“all strategy documents, emails, memos and aide memoirs relating
to engagement strategies with the Tarras community, individuals or groups that are Tarras based…” As we noted in our response to your Previous Request (in addition to the information provided at
paragraph 7 above) the release of CIAL’s internal plans, strategies and methodologies may
disadvantage CIAL’s ability to carry out its commercial activities in relation to the Project.
Accordingly, this information is withheld under Section 9(2)(i) of the OIA. Further, CIAL is not able
to release its budgets for the same reasons.
11.
We trust we have answered your requests for information. If you require any further information or
we have in some way misinterpreted your requests, please let us know.
12.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of the decisions contained
in this letter. Information about how to contact the Ombudsman or make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
CIAL LEGAL TEAM
Email: [Christchurch International Airport Limited request email]
