Letter to the Transport and Infrastructure Committee on the Civil Aviation Bill

^{Franz Josef Glacier, Greg Hewgill, Flickr}

The Commissioner has written to the Transport and Infrastructure Committee regarding the Civil Aviation Bill.

In the Commissioner's report Not 100% – but four steps closer to sustainable tourism, he looked at the issue of protecting wilderness and natural quiet on public conservation land, including the impact of aviation noise. One recommendation in the report was that the Government should seek amendments to the Civil Aviation Act 1990 to ensure that the Department of Conservation's requests for better controls on scenic overflight activity above conservation lands and waters are properly considered.

However, it appears that the proposed Civil Aviation Bill would actually take us further away from that recommendation, rather than closer to it.