M.P.s urge Govt to review runway plans

Press, 19 April 1980, Page 6

M.P.s urge Govt to review runway plans

Parliamentary reporter Support for the extensions to the runway at Christchurch Airport came yesterday from the eight Christchurch Labour members of Parliament, who accused the Government of seeking to escape its responsibility. Government approval for the extensions should be given without delay, the group said in a joint statement. Any attempt by the Christchurch City Council to “go it alone” and pay for the extension from the city’s half-share in the Airport Pool Account would be unfortunate, they said. “The Government should not be allowed to escape its responsibility to assist the development of the airport from its share of the account.

“Approval for the runway

extensions has apparently been withheld because no international airlines have yet committed themselves to using Christchurch as the sole point of entry or departure if the runway is extended, but in our view it is quite unrealistic to expect international . carriers to commit themselves in this way. “Even if the runway extensions were approved now, construction would not finish before late 1982. No major commercial airline is going to make the type of commitment the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) contemplates. Besides, facilities at the airport have always been provided in advance of need; that is simply prudent management,” they said. “The crucial point is that the money for the extensions is all available in the

Airport Pool Account. As the law now stands it must be spent on the development of Christchurch Airport; it is not available for any other purpose. Even the cost of relocating the landing lights and emergency beacons could reasonably come from the pool account, in which case not one cent of taxpayers’ money would be needed. “Christchurch needs the employment this major project could bring, and the South Island needs the export and tourist potential that the longer runway would provide. The Government should immediately examine the possibility of using the pool account to finance the relocation of the landing lights and beacons, and it should stop holding up the development of this project,” they said.