Long-term plan for Ashburton airport to take off
From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
It’s a 30-year plan, not a next-few-years plan.
That was the message as the outgoing Ashburton District Council adopted the Ashburton Airport Development Plan at the final meeting of its term last week.
Chief executive Hamish Riach said creating the plan was about establishing a general direction for the future of the site.
“The idea of the 30-year plan is to create a framework for the development of the airport over the next number of decades”.
That framework in the plan aims to make the airport more financially independent, support its viability, and ensure it is safely and sustainably managed for the next 30 years.
Mayor Neil Brown said it is a 30-year plan to be used as a guide and “if it needs updating, we will update it as required”.
The consultation process raised concerns that the existing grass runways are already operating near capacity and will not cope with the forecast increase in flights proposed in the plan.
The council recently put in place a tracking system to monitor landings and from the data available estimates the current annual usage to be about 7500 to 8000 movements.
The plan states that “this level of usage can put stress on the grass runways, requiring steps to be taken to manage wear and tear. This could be expected to worsen if the airport grows”.
Sealing the runways is an option but it is not defined in the 30-year-plan, instead, it will be considered in any long-term plan process when the need arises.
“It will be dependent on the rate of development,” Riach said.
“There may be a development within the framework of this plan at a future point that would mean there needs to be an alteration to the runway but no one could predict when that would be.”
Safety was a key issue raised during the consultation, mainly focused on the potential increased air traffic.
A majority of the concerns had centred on the potential lease of land for a large-scale flying school operated by NZ Air Academy.
The council decided the NZ Air Academy proposal is a separate but related matter and deferred any decisions on the proposal until the development plan had been adopted.
Any proposal from the flight school will be presented to the council for consideration.
The plan confirmed the proposed location of the recreational, commercial, and hangar home precincts.
Any hangar home precinct, where people could live at the airport, will be explored, and it will require a District Plan Change process.
It also provides for the Ashburton Aviation Museum expansion plans.
* Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
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Hero
“I was born and raised in war. To be honest, those are not good memories.
I really like Iran, and I really miss it, but I couldn’t be myself there. Even though my family didn’t like my decision, I left Iran. I promised myself that I would do whatever I can for all communities, especially for the kids, so they do not have the same experience I had.
I studied software engineering in Iran and left in 2006. I went to Malaysia and stayed in Kuala Lumpur for seven years. I was admitted to Lincoln University to do my PhD here, but unfortunately, I couldn’t afford the expenses. I requested a scholarship, but they told me I had to be there for six months first. So, I stayed in Malaysia and did my PhD in network security. In December 2013, I came to New Zealand with a work visa.
It took me a while to connect with the Iranian community here. I volunteered with the Multicultural Council, SPCA, and community patrol, and I established the Christchurch Iranian Society in 2017. Before that, I started working on Radio Toranj, the only Farsi-language radio show in New Zealand.
One of the reasons I started organizing cultural events was to showcase Iranian culture. I wanted to show people that we have delicious food, colorful dresses, traditional customs, and our own instruments. My hope was to show people that we are not what you see in the media.
I am working to involve all the communities that celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, in the Nowruz festival in March 2025. We want to share this celebration not only with our community but with the public as well. It’s better when it’s shared.
I remember the first time someone from Dunedin called me and asked, Hero, can you help? Something happened, and they keep declining Iranian visa applications. When I heard that, I felt insulted. We are still human, so how can they do that?
Through this journey, I’ve learned a lot. Every single day, people with different cases call me, and I try to share my knowledge and guide them as much as I can.
I have received several awards, including the Christchurch Civic Award and an Award of Recognition for my contributions to the community during the pandemic. In 2021, I established Canterbury Kia Ora Academy, a charitable trust. Through this charity, I can help other communities as well, not just the Iranian community.”
- Hero
View more stories, or nominate someone: @humansofchch
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