‘Airport Must Have Independent Chair,’ Says Airport Coalition

The Paraparaumu Airport Coalition is calling for an independent chairperson to lead public debate at a Public Airport Forum in Kapiti on Sunday.

The Coalition says it is not acceptable for the Mayor to chair the meeting because he is widely perceived as being biased on the issue.

Coalition convenor, Cr Alan Tristram, says: “Like it or not, the Mayor is widely seen as being pro Airport development and it is simply not right for him to be leading this particular discussion.”

“I understand that Mr Milne was at one rime involved in a professional capacity in airport development discussions,” he says.

“That’s quite legal, but it precludes him from being seen as neutral.”

“The Mayor has also attended long, detailed presentations by Mr Robinson, but has somehow not found time to attend public meetings called by the Airport Coalition. If that isn’t bias, what is?” says Cr Tristram.

Councillor Tristram says the Forum on Sunday must now be part of a wide-ranging public consultation under the Local Government Act, as called for by Green Civil Aviation spokesperson Sue Kedgley.

The Coalition is prepared to attend the Forum, he says, but only if it is “fair, transparent and above board.”

The Airport Coalition also says it is ludicrous for the Mayor and Councillor Diane Ammundsen to be arguing for a Councillor Commissioner to hear submissions on the Airport under the Resource Management Act.

“The KCDC’s own officers, in a report to the Regulatory Committee on February 1, proposed independent commissioners,” Cr Tristram says.

“Now we see – in a report in a local paper (Kapiti Observer, March 5) -- the Mayor and Cr Ammundsen claiming that a Councillor hearing commissioner could provide ‘local knowledge.’ This is completely unacceptable,” he says.

“All the KCDC councillors have expressed strong views on the airport already, in public or to other councillors, and they certainly cannot be seen as unbiased,” he adds.

Cr Tristram says it is time for the KCDC to “take a deep breath, straighten up, and start to think about the long-term interests of the people of Kapiti – not the developers.”

ENDS

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