Govt still to decide on runway length

Press, 28 October 1981, Page 1

Govt still to decide on runway length

A Harewood Road deviation that will allow the Christchurch Airport runway extension to go ahead was approved by the Cabinet yesterday, but the runway length has yet to be decided. The escalated cost of facilities associated with the runway project — a cost which would be borne by the Government alone — seems to be the reason for the delay in approving a runway length. However, Christchurch City councillors said that they were delighted at the announcement by the Minister of Civil Aviation (Mr McLachlan) after a Cabinet meeting.

The announcement was greeted “with some relief,’ said the public utilities committee chairman (Cr Rex Lester). Tenders for the road deviation, a project needed before the runway • can be extended, could be called in one or two weeks. Mr McLachlan said that the final runway length would not be considered until plans and costings for the entire job had been approved. Councillors said they hoped that the extension length would be' the 1217 metres originally specified by the Civil Aviation Division of the Department of Transport in May. “In my view, the extension would be pointless if it did not allow flights from Christchurch to the outer edge of the Pacific Basin,” Cr Lester said.

The Mayor (Mr Hamish Hay) said that a shorter extension would enable fullyladen, wide-bodied jets to take off only for Perth and Tahiti,-.and not for the desired destinations of Singapore and Honolulu. “Christchurch would not be a comparable exihpoint to Auckland without the full extension,” he said. It is understood that the Civil Aviation Division could face a cost to the Govern-

ment of about $3.5 million for runway-associated facilities which would not be funded from the pool account with the City Council. Such facilities could include a second crash fire station, navigational aids, and runway centre-line lights. Original cost • estimates, done in 1978. put the extra costs at about $500,000. “Why we are in a state of flux on this darned thing at the moment is purely and simply for Civil Aviation to have another look at their costings." said the Airport Director (Mr M. W. Atkinson).

The City Council does not know what alternative runway length may have been put to the Government by the Civil Aviation Division because of extra costs. The possibility of a shorter extension “has never been put down in writing by anyone.” said the General Manager and Town Clerk (Mr J. H. Gray). However, he said that the road deviation announcement was important. “That’s really the news we wanted to hear today,” he said. Last week’s meeting in Wellington with Government Ministers had wrapped up some communication difficulties. Cr Lester said that no Minister had suggested any-

thing other than the 1217 m extension. "Areas of confusion are now clarified," he said. "We will work to ensure that a final decision on the length is not delayed.” "We should make sure that we keep the strength of the lobbying up,” said Cr A. J. Graham. “We should not let our cry diminish.” “I think we are either looking at a 1217 m extension or something quite different," said Cr Lester. “I have no reason to believe it will be something quite different." Any confusion about the runway length did not lie on the City Council side. “Civil Aviation may have suggested runway lengths to the Government not acceptable to us,” Cr Lester said.