Before international airports became the talk of Tarras, farming was the district’s main preoccupation. Christchurch International Airport Ltd caught plenty of flak for the way it bought up land at Tarras for an airport. Mr McLean grew up on a croft, or small farm, on the Scottish Isle of Coll. "The flats are very fertile, and even up on top of the hill behind the Tarras store it’s quite fertile," Mr Gibson said. "You’ve got to find something that is durable enough in the dry," Mr Purvis said.

Source: Otago Daily Times August 07, 2020 16:33 UTC