Sir Tim Shadbolt 'chuffed' to have permanent link to city
“I'm really touched by the gesture."
Sir Tim Shadbolt says he’s touched by the decision to rename the Invercargill Airport terminal after him.
On Tuesday the Invercargill City Council voted in favour of the recommendation to rename the Invercargill Airport terminal the Sir Tim Shadbolt Terminal.
Only councillor Ian Pottinger voted against the motion to rename the terminal in honour of Shadbolt. He did not elaborate on his reasonings for voting against it.
“I'm really touched by the gesture confirmed today,” Shadbolt said in an email statement to The Tribune.
“I'm proud to think I played a role, however minor, in pushing to get the jets flying into the city and forging a direct link with Auckland.
“I spent a lot of time at the airport both as a director of the Airport Company and as a traveller. I'm chuffed to think that my name has a permanent link to the gateway to our city.”
Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark said the official renaming was expected to take place in mid-February.
Shadbolt was first elected as Mayor of Waitemata City for six years before in 1993 he was elected to serve as Mayor of Invercargill until 1995.
He was re-elected in 1998 and stayed in the role through to 2022 when he stood for both the mayoralty and as a councillor, but was not re-elected.
When the matter was put to council on Tuesday various councillors spoke in favour of the gesture before voting in favour of it.
Cr Peter Kett said: “I believe that Mayor Tim deserves this, he has not only done this for Invercargill, but the province of Southland, and he has gone far and beyond any other mayor that we have had.”
Mana whenua representative Evelyn Cook spoke on behalf of the Waihōpai Rūnaka, which is a smaller shareholder in the Invercargill Airport.
Cook said the Waihōpai Rūnaka was delighted to support the move to name the terminal after Shadbolt.
Pottinger did question whether the council was going against its own policy of having bilingual building names by not including a Te Reo name in the renaming of the terminal.
However, Cook said they did not consider it appropriate to give a translation of a person’s proper name or title.
“So, therefore, Sir Tim Shadbolt Terminal is fine by us,” Cook said.
“However, my [Waihōpai Rūnaka] chair did wish to point out that we have been in conversation with Invercargill Airport for quite some time about a recognition of Te Reo Māori within the building. So, he does not you to forget that in your haste to honour Sir Tim.”