The Press THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1955. Hope for Harewood

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27633, 14 April 1955, Page 12

The Press THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1955. Hope for Harewood

The most surprising thing about Mr .’Shand’s explanation of the frustraI tion of the Harewood airport ibuilding project is its belatedness. This is the first time, in several I weeks of discussions between the ! Minister and the City Council, of ; public statements by the Minister, jand of letters to the council from 'the Civil Aviation Administration, that the non-completion of the formal agreement between the council and the Government on the future control of the airport has been raised as an objection to the early approval of plans for a per-' manent terminal building. In the circumstances, the exasperation of the Mayor is understandable. Mr Macfarlane (and the people of the South Island) could, however, take comfort in the thought that this objection has been raised after every other possible objection has been raised and disposed of. The general terms of the agreement have been known for four years or more; and a great deal of work has been done at Harewood in the terms of that agreement—a simple sharing of costs between the City Council and the Government. There seems to be

no reason why further work should not be done on the same basis, and no reason whatever why the preparation of plans should not go forward in anticipation of the formal signing. In * any case, progress is now in sight. The clear implication of Mr Shand’s statement is that only certain legal formalities —which should take days rather than weeks to complete—now bar the way to an agreed policy of

common sense at Harewood. That may be summed up as the minimum expenditure required to make the present passenger facilities tolerable and the maximum expedition in planning and building a permanent terminal worthy of the country’s only international airport.