Originally published on Scoop.
News from Hue tē Taka
Hue tē Taka Incorporated Society which represents the most directly and severely affected residents from Moa Point, who are Wellington Airport’s neighbours, has today announced it will be opposing the Airport’s application for resource consent to extend the runway in the Environment Court next year.
Karl Weber of Hue tē Taka said that they are urging other community groups, local businesses and individuals to do the same.
“We have filed our form under section 274 stating that we would like to appear in the Environment Court and speak to the submission we made on the application in August.
“Despite almost 70% of submissions made on the application being in opposition, the local community are not getting any support from local government. So, it is important that everyone who wants to appear in Court to oppose the application also files an s274 form before the deadline on Friday.
“Sadly it falls to the community to put pressure on the Airport over the many concerns we have about the proposed runway extension. We hope that many people feel they would like to follow us in putting our own resources into the Environment Court process.”
The deadline for filing an s274 form is Friday.
“The economic impact that this project will have on the city in undeniable.
“The Greater Wellington Regional Council’s economic impact expert estimated the cost of the extension would be $428m but likely to rise to almost $500m, compared to the Airport’s estimation of $300m and the Airport has not produced a robust business case to prove the benefits”, said Mr Weber.
“In addition to this and the significant environmental impact of our beautiful bay, the Directly Affected Residents of Moa Point are specifically concerned about the impact of construction noise, dust and vibration on their daily lives.
“The Regional Council’s report said that construction and operational noise will result in sleep disturbance and associated health issues for the residents of Moa Point Road properties to a level that is ‘significant’ and ‘unacceptable’.
Residents are being given the choice of relocation or major insulation works as the only mitigation. For the majority of us this is simply not an option.
“We strongly urge those who wish to join us in opposing the extension to file their s274 forms as soon as possible.”
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