CITY AIRPORT

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 23, 28 January 1936, Page 11

CITY AIRPORT

THE RONGOTAI SCHEME

RATEPAYERS DOUBTFUL

LOANS WITHOUT POLLS

Members of the committee of the Wellington Ratepayers' Association are not satisfied with the proposal made by the City Council that special powers should be obtained from Parliament to permit the council to reclaim a portion of Lyall Bay and to raise money by special order for the extension of Rongotai aerodrome. The committee maintains that, apart from the strong opposition which must be raised by the proposal to borrow money without a poll, further work of major character should not be Vmbarked upon until the fullest investigation has been made into the whole question of the most suitable development to meet aviation needs of the future.

Mr. C. A. L. Treadwell, president of the association, speaking at a meeting of the committee last night, said that there were two matters of particular importance to the association. First, there was a threatened attack on one of the first planks of the association's platform, namely, the use of an Ofder in Council instead of an appeal to the public, the persons who were to be made responsible to foot the bill.

It seemed plain beyond dispute that great sums of money should not be demanded of the ratepayers unless they had first' some say in the propriety of their expenditure. It was just as vicious to spend the ratepayers' money without their sanction as it was to legislate by regulations instead of appealing to the House of Parliament. Both methods • led to abuse, and that the Wellington ratepayers had suffered already was beyond dispute.

If the scheme was worthy of support there was no reason to fear that the citizens would reject it. They were as keen on the advancement of their city as any other body of citizens. They had, however, the right, the plain, unmistakable right, to express their opinion on these matters of major importance. "It was not many years ago when the council had to refer to the citizens any matter involving the expenditure of over £1000. There is still the obligation in matters involving the expenditure of very large sums of seeking the approval of the persons who were to pay for the proposed works," said Mr. Treadwell. "The great body of opinion wants to know what it is asked to pay for, it wants to be satisfied that the payment should be made, and once it is satisfied, then the council need have no fear that permission will be denied. It smacks of fear on the part of those anxious to proceed with the work that they do not seek the permission of the ratepayers. •

STILL DOUBTS ABOUT RONGOTAI.

"The second matter of great importance is satisfying the. public that the right site has been chosen for an aerodrome," Mr. Treadwell continued. "It may well be that Rongotai is the best site available. That can, however, only be ascertained when there has been a proper investigation. Searching the files for information on this aspect of the matter, I find that on December 3 the 'Evening Post' published a warning by our City Engineer to the effect that the whole position and the effect of the work done and to be done should be fully reviewed. In addition to that, he said that with out that full consideration there was a grave risk of the people of Wellington being committed to meeting a very heavy payment without on the other hand obtaining an airport which would meet sll requirements.

."That statement is too grave a one to be ignored. It comes from our chief of engineers, and should be met by an adequate answer. If the airport is the best and can be made adequate we should be advised of that fact. At present it appears, perhaps mistakenly, that the project has a large percentage of hopeful speculation behind it. That will not do when the payment of public funds is involved. If there has not been a full and careful survey of the position then I am bound to say that I am astounded tbst the work i>:>i'l& be proposed. If t'- ere has beei an ii quiry, by the parsens capable -A WE.king one, then the rcult should he nadc available to the public, the persons who are to pay for it. MORE THAN A LOCAL WORK. "There is one other aspect of the matter that does not seem to have received much publicity and that is whether, if the project is a sound one, the people of Wellington ought to bear the whole burden of the cost," he continued. "There is some similarity in an airport to a railway terminal. The latter is obtained in New Zealand by genera! taxation. The airport of Wellington is not for the exclusive benefit of Wellington people. In fact it is for the general benefit and I am at present inclined to think that the four main airports ought to receive a substantial proportion of the cost of their construction out of general taxation. EFFECT OF SEAWALL? "One of the features of the aerodrome work consists in sinking a concrete wall upon the sandy bottom of the eastern end of Lyall Bay. We ought to be informed whether it is certain that this can successfully be achieved," said Mr. Treadwell. "There may be some legitimate parallel to be drawn from the Biblical story of the man who built his house upon the sand. On the other hand there may have been a scientific investigation which will satisfy the mind of the reasonable citizen. We do not know, yet we are entitled to know, that there has been such an inquiry before the project is set going. Then one ought to know, in view of the tides and currents in the bay, what investigations have revealed will be the effect on the rest of the foreshore.

"If Rongotai is proved to be a suitable site for the aerodrome and if the ratepayers ought to pay anything towards it, then we merely desire to be satisfied on those points to give it our hearty support, but let us have no rushing on with a project the result of which may be merely a waste of public money and result in the establishment of a worthy airport being unduly delayed." In the general discussion that followed a strong view was expressed that the Government should bear the cost of constructing what is really a national airport. Other speakers urged that a long view was necessary. In a few years the Rongotai airport even if completed according to the proposed plan, may be quite inadequate to meet the improved and probably enlarged aeroplanes. The discussion showed that the association was by no means committed to support any particular site, but that, as representing the body of citizens who bear the financial cost of city works, it was determined to see that the ratepayers' interests should be adequately safeguarded.