19 Dec 2016

Council questioned over $50k Air NZ spend

6:22 pm on 19 December 2016

A Kerikeri man is asking the Far North District Council to justify a $50,000 grant to Air New Zealand, to help pay for a new safety video.

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Various Northland beaches feature in Air New Zealand's latest safety video. Photo: Youtube

Much of the in-flight video featuring various celebrities was shot in Northland this month.

But Peter Gill, who unsuccessfully challenged the mayor, John Carter, in October's elections has questioned how the payment was authorised.

He said the council had given the money to an airline that had dumped Kaitaia as a destination and seriously threatened the flight timetable for Kerikeri.

Mr Gill said, at the same time, many ratepayers lived on unsealed roads so dusty they fell below health standards for roof-water collection.

Mr Carter said the payment was authorised under the Local Government Act.

He said there would be no new road-sealing in the Far North unless the government restored subsidies.

The council's chief executive Colin Dale, said the safety video was a chance to promote the Far North to a global audience, for a relatively small outlay.

Mr Dale said the video was reportedly watched online more than two million times on the first day.

The council had neither the budget nor the capacity to produce that sort of result on its own, he said.

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