Green posturing damages ‘brand’

Monday, May 9th, 2022

A move by five environmentally-minded Wellington city councillors who are attempting to put the breaks on Wellington Airport’s development looks likely to fail.

The airport is looking to double its capacity by 2040.

Veteran councillors Iona Pannett and Sarah Free, along with three first time councillors Teri O’Neill, Tamatha Paul, and Laurie Foon, have put a motion asking the council to oppose the $1B expansion of the airport into the Miramar Golf Course.

“We want to see action on carbon zero. I haven’t seen an ounce of good work for genuine climate justice from Wellington Airport,” said O’Neill.

However Councillor Nicola Young is calling the move an abuse of council processes.

“Pannett and Free lost their Green Party endorsement this year and it is just a way to remind voters they’re Green”, she said.

Councillor Simon Woolf called the motion “inflammatory” and says it is “activism instead of governance.”

He warns that the approach “causes instability and reputational damage.”

Reinforcing the claims of the inflammatory motion, posturing and activism, Wellington’s DomPost indicates its research suggests the motion will fail.

On Friday, Wellington Airport lost its case in the High Court for an interim injunction stopping the installation of a pedestrian crossing across State Highway 1, north of the airport.

O’Neill said the airport’s suing Waka Kotahi over Let’s Get Wellington Moving – a sustainability-focused transport project – went against climate action.

Source: DomPost