No More From Hapupu Meantime

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32031, 4 July 1969, Page 1

No More From Hapupu Meantime

(From Our Own Reporter) WELLINGTON, July 3. The present airstrip at Hapupu in the Chatham Islands would have to serve for at least the next few years and in all probability for some considerable time, the Minister of Transport (Mr Gordon) said yesterday.

He had been asked to comment on the future of air communications with the island. Mr Gordon said that the Hapupu airstrip had been rolled by the Ministry of Works to improve bearing strengths and investigations had been made for an alternative airport site.

It had been hoped that a 1 site at Big Bush, near Wai- i tangi, would be suitable. But < it had subsequently been dis-i covered that the peat founda- 1 tions would be unsatisfactory i for a tar-sealed strip. In 1966 1 it had been estimated that a s sealed strip at Big Bush i would cost about $l.l million. The Ministry of Works was 1 now investigating another site ] at Karewa Point, also on the Waitangi side of the island. Mr Gordon said he had no 1 up-to-date information on 1 costs for that proposal. At the same time an in- 1 vestigation was being made of > proposals to construct a causeway over the lagoon to provide direct access to the < present Hapupu airstrip. Mr J Gordon said the causeway proposal would cost less than 1 $400,000. He would not comment on , which proposal was most favoured at present But it is 1 believed that the Ministry, of :

Works is not keen on the idea of a causeway. On the other hand, the Treasury, which will probably have the final say, will want to be convinced that there are exceptional engineering reasons for spending more than slm on a new airfield. Perhaps the Treasury line will prevail in the end because it has yet to be established that the economic future of the islands justifies expenditure on a new airfield. In the meantime, priority is being given to improvement in land transport from Waitangi to Hapupu. Mr Gordon has had an officer at the island this week, inspecting the special “swamp buggy” designed by the Ministry of Transport. It seems likely that the wave breaker fixed to the front of the buggy will be raised several inches to pro-

vide better protection for the engine. It is also likely that tyres two inches wider than the present 9in tyres will be fitted.

A longer-term solution may be to purphase a suitable four-wheel-drive vehicle from overseas. But there are problems in this, too. On Mr Gordon’s own admission, the best vehicle which could be obtained when tenders were called last year was a four-wheel-drive Ford tractor with a 34in clearance. Mr Gordon’s specially designed swamp buggy—a converted, reconditioned World War Two Army truck —has a clearance of 39in. The Government may have to look for a suitable vehicle among the specialised equipment developed for the United States Army. But it would probably be cheaper to have a special vehicle built in New Zealand.