Hangars with overhead accommodation, a cafe and tourist area and the closure of the College St boundary to further development are included in the new Motueka Aerodrome Development Plan.

The Motueka Aerodrome Development and Motueka Aerodrome Management plans attracted 21 submissions, which may be heard by Tasman District Council in the near future.

The council’s property services manager Jim Frater said the proposed management plan generally reinforced the previous version.

Exceptions were the aim that the airport be self-funding so it did not continue to require the current top-up from the general rate, the ‘‘beefing up’’ of the health and safety component through the recent establishment of an operations and safety committee and the phasing out of the use of septic tanks and introduction of piped services to preserve the aquifer.

However, the airport’s first development plan laid out concepts and proposals for what the site might look like in the future and allocated operations areas.

The plan talks about introducing six established development areas – one for fixed-wing craft on the northwest corner, one for helicopters in the northeast corner, an area on the Queen Victoria St boundary for hangars and potential overhead accommodation, a small zone next to the current recreation reserve on the corner of Queen Victoria and College streets for commercial and tourist services, an upgrade of the current reserve and a stop on further development along the College St boundary.

The council also plans to install future reticulated sewerage into the fixed wing and helicopter areas and possibly to the hangar sites. Reticulation of power and data services was also proposed.

A conceptual proposal for future airport development into the area of the A and P Showgrounds was also proposed in the plan.

There was also an option to establish an airport zoning.

The airport is zoned Rural 1, which means any building extensions need resource consent because the site’s coverage has already been exceeded.

Mr Frater said the requirement put extra cost on developers.

The plan would be reviewed five-yearly.

A recent open day held for those interested in the plans saw arguments raised, and accepted, over the discretionary designation of microlights.

‘‘They are a lot more sophisticated and it’s a good reason for their move to approved use,’’ Mr Frater said.
Mr Frater said the submissions would go to this month’s council’s corporate services meeting. After that meeting the decision would be made on whether the submissions would be heard.

It was heartening Motueka residents were interested in the airport’s future, he said.

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