The Hawera Star MONDAY, APRIL, 22, 1935. THE AIR-PORT “TRAGEDY.”

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 22 April 1935, Page 6

The Hawera Star

MONDAY, APRIL, 22, 1935. THE AIR-PORT “TRAGEDY.”

Delivered every evening by 5 o’clook in Hawera, Manaia. Kaupokonui, Otakeho. Oeo, Pibama, Opunake. Eltham, Ngaere. Mangatcki, Kaponga, Awatuna. Te Kiri, Mahoe, Lowgarth, Manutahi, Kakara. jnea, Alton, Hurleyvilla, Patea, Whenuakura, Waveriey, Mokoia, Whakamara, Ohangai, Meremera, Fraeer Stoad and Ararat*.

We are sorry that our leading article in last Wednesday’s issue has so thoroughly upset- the Hawera Aero Club as is made apparent by the president’s letter, which appears in another'column on this page. Our regret springs in no sense from an apologetic spirit. We see no reason to apologise for our attempt to examine the circumstances of the club’s request for a grant of £2OO a year for ten years and the Borough Council’s rejection of that request. But we do regret that such an admirable organisation as the Aero Club should turn petulant immediately it is crossed by a borough council which refuses to be rushed into a decision on the eve of the municipal election, and by our humble selves, when we have the temerity to ask some questions instead of swallowing the club’s proposals whole. We did not realise that because the Aero Club proposed to put up £6OOO of the requisite amount that we, or any other common ratepayer, were not expected to lift our wondering voices to ask questions about the Borough Council’s £2000; and though we gather now that that is the general idea of the Aero Club, we are not in the least impressed by it and do not feel in the least abashed, despite the revelation in to-day’s letter that the club considers our remarks ‘ 1 fatuous ’ ’ and ou> understanding ‘ £ dense.

We do not propose to go over the whole of the ground we covered on Wednesday; and as for the leading article of December 18, we will content ourselves with saying that that was a fair review of the situation as we knew it at that date and remind the club that we concluded our statement on that occasion, after noting/all that had been said in favour of the air-port scheme, with the remark that it still remained for the club to prove that the project was sound in its practical, as well as its theoretical, aspects Since then the club’s scheme has been discussed by the Borough Council and the discussion has been fully reported, in our columns. But it is still possible ■for the ignorant and fatuous ratepayer to wonder why all this enthusiasm. The ratepayer is, admittedly, not so well up in affairs aeronautical as the club; and whereas club officials have given a lot of time and thought to the subject, the ratepayer has given little or none. But for all his density the ratepayer can see some things clearly enough: out of the blue (as far as the ratepayers were concerned) came a proposal from the Aero Club that Hawera should have another landing ground—-no tiddly-winking affair this time, capable only of accommodating Moths used for pilot-training purposes (and incidentally the “Southern Cross.” “Faith in Australia” and some other transTasman machines) but a really first-class field, comparable with the best in New Zealand and capable of accommodating large commercial air-liners. For this purpose the club desired to purchase a farm property near the racecourse at full market rates. It proposed to invest the whole of its available funds, some £6000,. and asked the Borough Council to guarantee £2OO a year for ten years. By judicious farming and by using the grounds as a golf course the scheme was to be selfsupporting- —with the aid of the council’s £2OO a year grant. The ratepayer saw all this clearly enough, but in his abysmal ignorance he asked where was the air traffic to come from to justify it all? For answer he has been told that it is certain to come —“flying men say so.” The club president, in his letter to us today, says “the club claims that its scheme was sound .... The club’s record surely entitles its views on aviation to be regarded with respect.” But in this we are not dealing with the science of aeronautics, but with the horsesense of commercial transport and we ask leave to wonder why it should be regarded as sound business practice to provide facilities for air traffic before there is any traffic. If the club knows something in this respect which we and the public do not know, it is its duty to make the information available. To date we have seen several applications for air transport licenses over different routes, but for none which included Hawera. The club will say that that is because Hawera has no facil-

ities. But even if Hawera had the facilities, would any commercial firm that was in the business for profit consider landing big and heavy ’planes here —and if so. why? And if Hawera is to be served only by a feeder line, why isn’t the present ground good enough for lighter ’planes? And if we are to be long-sighted, as the Aero Club suggests we should be in this matter, why not look even ■further ahead to the day when ’planes of the autogyro type, which can land in a restricted space, are in general use? But this takes us into the realms of aeronautical science, which is the preserve of the Aero Club, and we do not desire to become involved in a technical discussion with experts. As far as the Borough Council is eoncei’ned we believe that if it had allowed itself to be persuaded into a decision last week it would have shown a sad lacking in its sense of responsibility to the ratepayers. The present council, which goes out of office next month, did the only possible thing when it refused to bind successive councils to a ten-years’ undertaking. The club’s excuse for demanding a yes-or-no answer last week was that other offers were being made for the land. All we have to say about this aspect of the situation is that prospective purchasers, acting on behalf of a corporate body, have no right to be influenced by such circumstances when their principals are not in a position to back them to the hilt.