On Thursday 5th May the Year 13 Geographers set off for Central Otago to research the controversial proposal of a Tarras Airport.

Our first stop was at Queenstown airport, where Sara Irvine, General Manager Corporate & Community Affairs, spoke to us about the current operations at both Queenstown and Wanaka airports. She explained why the current airport was able to adequately cater to international/ domestic tourists in the future. We also spoke to Jim Boult, Mayor of Queenstown Lakes District, a passionate advocate against the Tarras Airport proposal. As former CEO of Christchurch Airport he was able to give us insight into the impact this would have on the district and he supported the idea of increasing capacity at Invercargill airport as a solution.

We then travelled to Wanaka, and on Friday spoke to Chris and Donna Goddard who spearhead Sustainable Tarras. Their property at Maori Point, Tarras, will be next to the airport runway if it goes ahead. They explained what impact this would have on the local community and also suggested that both Dunedin and Invercargill airports would be better gateways into the district so that tourism could be spread widely, rather than concentrating on small areas and risk congestion, overcrowding and ruining the very environment tourists come to experience. It was great to speak to people about their viewpoints and students now need to write up their findings in their assessment looking at this as an issue, explaining different viewpoints and justifying a solutions.