Airport review submissions

Press, 29 June 1983, Page 5

Airport review submissions

Christchurch City Council submissions on the Government’s new airport financing review will be considered by the special subcommittee. Cr Rex Lester, the public utilities committee chairman, said yesterdav that the report was “a 'complex document in many ways,” partly because it came to no conclusions but restricted itself to “just floats of ideas.” The Mayor, Sir Hamish Hay, said that a study of Ministry of Transport annual report statistics showed trends over four years that left Christchurch Airport at a disadvantage compared with Wellington and Auckland airports. The impact of Civil Aviation regulation changes some years ago “comes through pretty dramatically,” he said. Those changes reduced the City Council’s share of landing charges and made them available for redistribution to other New Zealand airports. Total airport revenue had doubled in Wellington, compared with an increase of only 31.9 per cent in Christchurch. That was due entirely to the sharing of landing charges, said Sir Hamish. The surplus on airport operations in Wellington had doubled, while the Christchurch surplus was only marginally ahead, he said.

While Auckland depreciation reserves “appear to be increasing at an abnormally high rate, by over $lO million in 1982,” they had increased only $1.2 million in Christchurch and decreased $BOO,OOO in Wellington. “Auckland investments and cash increased by a massive $10.7 million in 1982, to a. total of over $3O million,” said Sir Hamish, “while Christchurch increased only $1.7 million in the same year, to $lO million. The increased proportion of landing charges is clearly benefiting Auckland substantially.” Government investment in Auckland Airport was $5l million, compared with $16.7 million in Wellington and $9.5 million in Christchurch. “Virtually the whole of the Christchurch investment has come from surplus earned from airport operations, and not from loans,” said Sir Hamish. “But I suspect this is not the case in Auckland, and certainly not in Wellington, where there has been a significant taxpayer investment in the form of loans or grants to finance development.” Extension savings A remarkable saving had been made on runway extension work because materials had been either dumped or reused on the site, said Cr Lester.

The contract for earthworks north of Harewood Road was completed in mid-May, and that contract had included the removal of an old rubbish tip in the extension’s path. The contract tender price was originally $614,616, but the final price was expected to be close to $470,000. Most of the excavated rubbish had been covered on another part of the site, and gravel to fill the old tip excavation had come from borrow pits. Airport rating The Rating Act should be amended to exempt airport roads, runways, taxiways and manoeuvring areas, the committee said, confirming a decision it had made last month. Councillors are concerned about the high cost of airport rates when few services from the Paparua County Council are received in return. Sir Hamish wondered whether such things as runways could be considered as performing similar functions to the wharf structures of harbour boards. Those structures were exempt from rates. Office project Airport terminal office extensions for the Civil Aviation Division will start soon. The estimated cost of that project is $650,000.