CITY AIRPORT

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 31, 5 August 1944, Page 8

CITY AIRPORT

RONGOTAI SUPPORTED

APPROACH TO GOVERNMENT

Unanimous approval of the scheme prepared by the City Engineer for the stage by stage development of Rongotai as Wellington's airport was given yesterday by a conference of representatives of the City Council, the Wellington Harbour Board, and the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. The conference decided to seek an interview with the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Works' and Defence to the end of obtaining Government endorsement and support, and to request that there should be set up a committee of Government Department and City Council and Harbour Board representatives, to prepare plans and estimates for all stages, of development and to discuss apportionment of costs. A suggestion was also made that a public meeting of residents of the airport area should be called so that the details of the proposals could be fully explained to them. The conference comprised the members of the airport committee of the City Council, of which Councillor B. Todd is chairman, Mr. W. H. Price (chairman), Sir Charles Norwood, and Mr. T. R. Barrer, representing the Harbour Board, and Messrs. F. Wilson and W. H. Hindle, representing the Chamber of Commerce. The Mayor (Mr. Appleton) presided. The City Engineer (Mr. K. E. Luke) and the Acting Chief Engineer of the Harbour Board (Mr. K. T. Jenssen) were present.

Councillor Todd, after outlining the more recent steps taken by the City Council, stated the four main decisions of the Commission of Inquiry: That Rongotai can be developed to provide a satisfactory commercial airport; that there is no other site within 35 miles of Wellington which fulfils the minimum technical requirements of an airport; that Wellington, without an airport, will lose its place on the main air routes and that this will impair the growth of commercial air services throughout the Dominion; and that Rongotai does not provide a desirable margin of safety in bad weather, and satisfactory improvement can be effected only as recommended by the Commission. . CONTINUING DANGER. The implications of the fourth finding should not' be overlooked, said Councillor Todd. Dangers that the Commission pointed out seven years ago still existed, and the fact that serious accident had not so far occurred was no justification for permitting the hazard to continue a day longer than necessary. v ' The City Engineer had stated that all his inquiries from competent authorities proved that notwithstanding the developments in aviation in the past seven years the findings of the Commission still held good, and Rongotai, with the improvements proposed, would serve well for present and future types of aircraft which it was expected would operate in and out of Wellington, said Councillor Todd.

"As to alternative sites there is little need to say anything except to remark that Porirua, which seems to have caught the fancy of some, is entirely ruled out by the experts for the simple reason of the surrounding hills," he added. NO LOSS OF HOUSES. "The Prime Minister has expressed some concern for the residents affected, and rightly enough, but there is reason to believe that his reservations on that score will disappear when he realises that, in addition to resiting these houses in improved surroundings, we will be able to provide two houses for each one shifted, and so make a useful contribution to the housing problem," said Councillor Todd. "I should add that those houses shifted will enjoy substantial improvement in being in what will be a garden suburb. Without doubt, what has held up the Commission's1 report for seven years hasbeen the Government's reluctance to face this question of removal of houses. The report affords a solution which is both practical and attractive.

"As to the interests of the members of the Miramar Golf Club, I do not wish to minimise in any way the sacrifice they will be called upon to make and the council has already indicated its desire to assist to the fullest extent possible. One form of practical assistance might be to make arrangements to enable them to carry on with a ninehole course for a time until they are thoroughly settled down in whatever new location they decide to adopt." The reclamation of Evans Bay, he continued, was- an essential part of the scheme. It was desirable in the development of future harbour works that the greatest possible elbow-room should be provided for expansion of the airport, and that nothing should be done to impair the clear approach from the Evans Bay side. GREAT ASSET IN RONGOTAI. "There is not a full appreciation on the part of the public of Wellington of the great asset we have in Rongotai airport, not only for the city of Wellington, but also as the hub upon which the whole of New Zealand's future civil aviation will turn," said Council^ lor Todd, in conclusion. "When Rongotai is fully developed we will have within a few> minutes of the centre of the city an airport with clear waterlevel approaches thoroughly adequate for our requirements. The provisions of Nature will enable us to' avoid the handicap under which aviation is placed at most centres, that is, the time usually expended getting to and from the aerodrome to the city. Rongotai, I believe, is almost unique in this regard, and one cannot emphasise this advantage too strongly." MORE INVESTIGATION ASKED. In a further statement, the Wellington Ratepayers' Association stresses the necessity of an adequate airport to serve Wellington, but, pointing out that the Rongotai Commission sat seven years ago, urges that no further steps shall be taken until full inquiry is made in the light of developments since 1937. The statement adds that the site for the main Wellington airport appears to be either Porirua or Paraparaumu, but the final decision should be made by the best overseas experts possessing a full knowledge of the investigation and planning now being carried out in Britain and the United States to meet future requirements of . air transport, not for a few years, but for at least fifty years.