TIMARU AIRPORT

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20512, 2 September 1936, Page 8

TIMARU AIRPORT

FIRST SOD TURNED

IMPORTANT WORK STARTED

In the presence of a representative attendance of the public, the Mayor (Mr P. C. Vinnell) yesterday afternoon turned the first sod in the construction of the Timaru Municipal Airport at Saltwater Creek. The Mayor was supported by the Deputy-Mayor (Mr P. B. Foote), Colonel S. D. Mason (Officer Commanding the 3rd Infantry Brigade), representing the military and civil aviation authorities, Mr T. G. Beck, resident Public Works engineer, and members of the Timaru Borough • Council. The scheme is a comprehensive one, and when completed will provide the town with a first-class airport.

It is proposed to construct the airport in accordance with the “A” class of the British Air Ministry. The original estimate of the cost of the work was £25,000, the Timaru Borough Council finding £15,000 in loan moneys for materials and service and the Government £lO,OOO for labour. It is now considered, however, that the cost will be somewhat in excess of £25,000. It is stated that the scheme will provide work for upwards of 70 men for 12 months. The official speeches were made from a specially constructed platform at the southern end of the airport, at a spot adjacent to the canal which is to be constructed. The Mayor said that the day was a memorable one so far as Timaru was concerned, the object of the gathering being to start a most important work, a work which it was hoped would be of vital importance to the town. At the moment the work might not appear Important, but in the days to come he was sure the public would be able to look back and realise the importance of what was done in 1936. Illustrating what was in his mind, the Mayor said that in his mind he pictured what Timaru was like 68 years ago. He remembered a former Mayor of Timaru, Mr James Craigie,, who did many fine things for the town, and who had a long record of public service, saying that when he came to Timaru in 1868, there were no roads, just tracks used by bullock waggons. There were no railways, no water supply, no drainage; in other words the town was almost cut off from the civilised world. If they could visualise the position as it was then, it should serve to stimulate them to try and do something for their own day and generation. They should try to show that the trust that had been put iff them was not misplaced, and show also that they were not unmindful of the fact that they had to try to make progress. The early pioneers had great courage. They had to work hard, often with very little reward, but they fought on, being made of the right stuff, and to-day New Zealand, with less than 100 years of history, had made an important contribution to the progress of he world. Future of Aviation The Mayor went on to say that among the systems of transport and travel to-day there was aviation, which, in the future, was destined to receive a great amount of support. Whatever they might think about the suitability or otherwise of any site in the town for an airport, and at one time he had had grave doubts about the desirability of the site they were on that day, and did not lend his support to it, yet he was joining with other councillors who held that the site was the best one, and earnestly hoped that it would become an unqualified success. He could assure all present, that the Council would leave no stone unturned to make it an accomplished fact. Mr Vinnell went on to say that the work was going to prove expensive, and would probably cost more than the amount which the ratepayers had sanctioned. There was only one regrettable feature, however, and that was that the late Mayor (Mr T. W. Satterthwaite) had not been spared to see the project for which he had worked so hard, brought to a successful issue. It was the irony of fate that he, who had taken an opposite view to Mr Satterthwaite when the matter was under discussion, should be performing the duty which the speaker would very much have liked to have seen Mr Satterthwaite performing. The late Mayar had done fine work for the town, and those who had known him best respected him for the stand he took. History of the Scheme Tracing the history of the airport project, Mr Vinnell observed that it was being inaugurated just 60 years after the railway reached Tima—i on February 4. 1876. The proposal to improve the drainage of the ground was first discussed by the Borough Council in I ivember, 1928 and four years later the draining of Otipua Lagoon was undertaken as an unemployment ./ork at a cost to the Co;-’-'! of £2447, exclusive of labour costs. Not until October 1931, however, did the Council seriously consider establishing an airport o - ' the Domain, which previously had been regularly used by New Z .land Airways Ltd., as a landing ground. Early in 1934, a roac’ reserve was stopped and 20 acres was Acquired from the Railway Department for the nominal sum of £2O. In September the same year, the Council accepted the offer of the Public Works Department to report on the suitability of the site and its possibilities as a result of further drainage. The report costing £5O. was considered by the Council on April 29 1935, and after discussing alternative sites and financial proposals and interviewing Mi J. Bitchener, then Minister of P blic Works, and Messrs A. Gibson and T. G. Beck, Public Works Department engineers, ‘he Council decided in September I- ~.t to proceed with the scheme at Saltwater r-eek on the plan outlined by Mr Beck.

Government Assistance The Minister of Public Works agreed to provide for the utilisation under the Public Works Department’s supervision of all fit No 5 scheme workers available in the immediate vicinity of the works, and secondly all or portion of the cost of engineering surveys, supervision and making pays for relief labour employed, from the Civil Aviation vote. This promise had been confirmed by the present Minister (Hon. R. Semple). A poll of ratepayers had been sanctioned on March 26, 1936, the raising of a loan of £15,000 at 31 per cent interest, payable by annua’ instalments over a term of 20 years. The instalments would amount to only £lOO per annum over the first five yea’- and £4OO a year for the next five years and £1350 annually for the remainder of the term. Thus the burden of rates would be light until some of the Council’s existing loans were paid off when the greater burden could be borne. The area available for the airport was 150 acres of Otipua Dom“.in, 20 acres acquired from the Government, 38 acres acquired under the Public Works Act and 5 acres from a closed road, making a total of 216 acres. The site would enable a landing ground in its narrowest dimensions of a circular area of 800 yards, with two runways of 1000 yards. The Mayor added that he had been assured by Mr Beck that the scheme would cost the Government more than the £lO,OOO which it originally agreed to contribute, but the work would be done at standard rates of pay, and the men would be expected to give a fair return for the money. The work to be put in hand would undoubtedly improve the area, and at the same time the drainage would help the people in the southern end of the town in the difficulties with which they were confronted. Asset to Town Colonel Mason expressed his pleasure at being associated with the function, and he extended congratulations to the Council on behalf of the military and civil aviation authorities. There could be no doubt about it that progress was being made, and if an airport was to be constructed such as had been indicated, it would be a definite asset to the town, and to the aviation authorities in New Zealand. Much had been said about aviation, but if it was to take its correct place, then facilities for the training of young pilots must be provided, and for the use of the country in time of war. Colonel Mason joined with other speakers in paying a tribute to the late Mayor, who had the project very much at heart, and who would have been proud to know that it had gone ahead as it had. The speaker went on to say that aviation must play an important part in the military policy of the country. They had not the same opportunities as other countries of studying the great advances made in England, but at the same time progress had been made. The civil routes had been mapped out, and at the moment Timaru was not included, but no doubt that would come. A few years ago he had been associated in the formation of a branch of the Canterbury Aero Club, but mainly through the economic stress of 1931, the club had fallen away. At one time they had had 100 members, young men who had been willing to learn to fly. His idea was that they should form a sub-branch of the Canterbury Aero Club, and he would like to see the idea resuscitated. A club of their own would be too costly, but if they had a sub-branch, with an instructor and machines, they could make progress, and become a fine adjunct of the Canterbury Club. Canterbury was ideal for flying, for in the province there was more flat land than anywhere else in New Zealand, and there was no reason why they should not have one of the strongest clubs in the Dominion. Colonel Mason concluded by stating that he was secretary of the South Canterbury Returned Soldiers’ Association, and he hoped that the members of the Association would be given a chance of engagement when men were selected for the work. Ambition Realised The deputy-Mayor (Mr Foote) said that that day saw the start oi one of his ambitions and that was to see Timaru with an airport and on the spot on which they were standing. He had never wavered in regard to the establishment of an airport at Saltwater Creek, because it was as close to the town as they could possibly get. It was right at their back door, not five, seven or ten miles away. Thera were many towns in New Zealand which would envy Timaru, for in years to come, the airport at their pad door would mean hundreds of thousands of pounds to the town. He was proud that he had had a part in the project. The town was like a person or persons. They either went forward or backward, and the airport would mean that the town would progress. He could visualise the fight there had been to secure a harbour for Timaru. There had been a battle in regard to the most suitable site, but the harbour had been

established, and they knew what a success it had been. If they were alive in 40 years’ time they would then be able to see that the airport was as much a success as the harbour had been and they would then know, also, that they had done the right thing. He was satisfied that they could not afford to stand still, and the airport was an absolute necessity for the future. He was looking forward to the time when they would see aeroplanes landing not daily but hourly. The deputy-Mayor also paid a tribute to the late Mayor, stating that he h ad had one idea in getting the work started, and it was to be much regretted that he was not present that day to do what they had to do in his absence. The last speaker was Cr. M. H. Richards, who said that they should be proud to have an airport in Timaru, and so close to the town itself. He could foresee the time when passengers would alight from aeroplanes on the airport, and they would be taken into the town In buses at a cost of 4d. (Laughter). He reviewed the early history of the ground, when runways had been cleared for Oscar Garden and others, and concluded by wishing the project every success. Sod Turned The Mayor then turned the first sod to the arcompaniment of hearty applause. The spot where the sod was turned was specially selected, being on the line of the airport proper and the embankment which will eventually shut off the canal carrying the water of the creek out to sea.