‘Stubborn’ Otago farmer sells land for new international airport at Tarras

The site of the proposed Tarras airport looking towards Lake Dunstan bounded by State Highway 8 (left) and State Highway 8A. Photo / Stephen Jaquiery, ODT, File

A Tarras farmer who described himself as “accommodating ... but stubborn” in 2020 has changed his mind and sold land to the Christchurch International Airport.

In July 2020, it was reported Christchurch International Airport (CIAL) had been buying up hundreds of hectares of farmland in Tarras, about 25 minutes’ drive from Cromwell, with the intention to one day build an international airport at the site.

At the time, Phillip (Taffy) Parcell said he would not sell 40ha to the company as he did not need the money and was attached to the land where he was born and still lived.

Unlike the farmland next door, his old-school oasis had not been cleared of trees to allow for irrigation pivots.

The 40ha Tarras property owned by Phillip Parcell and wanted by Christchurch International Airport. Photo / Mark Price, ODT, File

It still had a ramshackle collection of elderly tractors and farm buildings, including a mud-brick teamster’s shed.

It was the last farm at Tarras to stop using draught horses and it was the second farm subdivided in 1882 from the giant Morven Hills Station, Parcell said at the time.

His property was what remained of the much bigger sheep farm bought by his father John after he served five years in the desert in World War II.

Yesterday, CIAL chief strategy and stakeholder officer Michael Singleton said the company had bought the property owned by Parcell, next to the 750ha of land at the intersections of State Highway 8 and 8A it already owned.

Philip (Taffy) Parcell rejected early approaches to sell his 40ha to the airport initiative. Graphic / ODT, File

The terms of the deal were confidential and Parcell had asked media to respect his privacy.

He would be able to continue occupying the land, Singleton said.

“We have a lot of work underway exploring the potential for the airport and were very happy for Philip to stay connected with his land in the interim.

“We haven’t made a decision on whether the project will proceed but the reality is any construction would be years away,” he said.

Earlier this month, Singleton said CIAL would in the coming weeks release information about where exactly it wanted the airport’s runway to be built.