Te Anau Airport
Fiordland is one of New Zealand's most picturesque and popular tourism spots. The tourism industry is the region's lifeblood, so the Te Anau Community Board and Southland District Council take their responsibility to provide infrastructure to support the sector seriously.
So in 2002, when the opportunity to own Air New Zealand's airport in Fiordland came up, the Council submitted a $401,000 tender which was accepted.
Private companies then put together a $7.1 million development plan for the site that would see a world-class entrance created to the world-class national park. It would be a hard, long road to see it become a reality but the Te Anau Community Board was committed to showing it had the foresight and courage to see the project through.
Two years later work began on changing the District Plan to allow the airport to go ahead. Details of the project including its cost were included in the 2006-2016 District Plan.
The plan to fund the project attracted some opposition. It was proposed $3 million would come from the sale of the Waiau airstrip land, with the balance to be funded by a loan which would be repaid by a $101 Uniform Annual Charge (UAC) on all rateable properties in the basin. 19 submissions were received against that proposal and after listening to those concerns, the Board decided to seek a no-interest, 25-year loan from the internal Luxmore Subdivision. This lowered the UAC to $61 per property.
Through careful consultation and communication it managed to translate community opposition to community buy-in.
Construction began in 2007, with the airport opening in April 2008, within budget. It is a stunning development - the terminal building has been architecturally designed to fit into the landscape, costs were kept down through the use of recycled timber and the sealed runway has been extended to allow larger planes to use it.
The board's long commitment to the project has paid off. Landings at the airport have increased from 339 in 2009 to 695 in 2010. The number of large planes bringing tourists to the area has also risen. And with passion and planning, the Te Anau Community Board has plans to use this multi-million dollar asset to pump more tourism lifeblood into its community.
Download the Te Anau Community Board's Best Practice Award entry here. (pdf)
