Fly Me To The Moon

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Wellington Airport after rainfall (Image: PhillipC, CC, Flickr)

It’s pretty much a given in life that we expect the future to be more or less like the past, only more so. And so it’s understandable that Deputy Mayor Ian McKinnon has come out so strongly in favour of significant ratepayer investments to support the future development plans of Wellington Airport.

For those who missed it, the airport company released its Draft Master Plan last month, setting ambitious goals for the growth of passenger and freight traffic through its terminals. And as a consequence, the Master Plan flags the need for improvements in the supporting local transport infrastructure – the road and public transport links that knit the airport into the rest of the Wellington region.

Deputy Mayor McKinnon immediately leapt on the Draft Master Plan and waxed lyrical about the need for a flyover at the Basin Reserve and a second Mt Victoria tunnel, allegedly necessary to support the growth in private cars that would accompany the growth in airport passengers and freight. On the surface, Cr McKinnon’s logic seems to make sense – but only if we assume the future will be a linear projection of the past.

There’s ample evidence to suggest that the growth in both airport patronage and private vehicle usage may not rise as quickly as either the Deputy Mayor or the airport company assume. The very real challenges of oil depletion and climate change – not to mention the immediate worldwide recession – seem destined to be significant speed-bumps on this vision of unbridled growth.

But even if we assume that the economy turns tomorrow, and that the dual challenges of finite oil and a warming climate can be magicked away, these plans still beg the question – why should Wellington ratepayers fund the airport’s supporting infrastructure?

After all, the scale of the investment proposed by the Deputy Mayor is very significant. Even on the optimistic numbers given in the Ngauranga to Airport Corridor Plan, these two projects alone account for some $200 million; by the time we include the supporting infrastructure changes and the inevitable cost over-runs, a price tag of nearly double that amount seems much more realistic.

If you’re following along at home, you’ll remember that the Wellington City Council is a 35% shareholder in the airport – and that private investors, who have reaped sizeable profits from the airport’s operations since it was privatised, own the remaining 65%.

So where is the equitable sharing of cost for the $400 million or more of investment being encouraged by Cr McKinnon? If – as he claims – the airport is the primary driver for these hugely expensive transport upgrades, then surely they should also be contributing 65% of the investment, rather than putting their hand in the pocket of ratepayers and taxpayers.

Of course Cr McKinnon’s expensive upgrades will also benefit commuters in the eastern suburbs and other road users, but it’s clear from the transport planning that these projects will always have a negative cost/benefit ratio – in other words they will never pay for themselves. So it’s hard to see the rush to push them through for the primary benefit of the airport as anything more than a massive subsidy, effectively using public money to line the pockets of shareholders.

Wellington Airport is no longer a public utility run for the public benefit; it’s a highly profitable business run for the benefit of predominantly private shareholders. So it seems only reasonable that if the airport wants flyovers and tunnels to assist its growth, it should contribute its full fair share.

Kent Duston is the convener of the Save The Basin Reserve Campaign, a member of the Mt Victoria Residents Association, and has no intention of becoming a Wellington Airport shareholder.

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