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TIMARU AIRPORT

Deputation To Go To Wellington Decision Of Council Construction of Runways Suggested With one dissentient, the Timaru Borough Council last night carried the following resolution: “That the Council send to Wellington a deputation consisting of two or three members to interview the heads of the Government to hasten the completion of the airport and the establishment of an air training centre here.” The motion was the outcome of a long discussion which arose after the reading of the following letter from the Public Works engineer, Mr A. D. Todd:— “In accordance with our recent conversation, concerning the Timaru airport, I am submitting the following comments for the information of your Council:—

“Landing area: Mr Madden, of the Department of Scientific Research, who is now acting in an advisory capacity to the Pubic Works Department in matters concerning the grassing of aerodromes, visited the airport last week. He is reporting on the matter, and I will ask permission to have his report made available for your information when it is received. “In the meantime salinity tests have been made in the Public Works Laboratory at Temuka and results indicate that there are still some patches which will probably be too saline to support growth. The whole of the area now under cultivation will, however, be sown down as soon as passible, since it is believed that working the ground may redistribute the existing salt concentration sufficiently for the grass to grow. “As regards the application of gypsum and mole draining, it is considered that neither of these operations would have time to affect the strike this spring, and would, in fact, delay sowing to a dangerous extent. Provided weather conditions are such as to permit early sowing and dry weather does not immediately follow, a reasonably good result can be expected and patches showing high salinity could then be attended to in time for sowing again in the coming autumn.

“Pumps: Advice has been received from the suppliers that essential parts of the equipment will not be received from England until next February. In the meantime the existing temporary pumping arrangements will be adequate. “Outlet culvert: Now that quieter sea conditions may be expected, the work of placing the floor in the extension has been resumed.” Cr A. S. Kinsman said that he had visited the airport that afternoon and he noticed that they had struck a line from the western side direct to the waterway. One area seemed to be in bad order, and unless something was done to it, it would never thicken up. They were not experts, but he thought that the Council should meet on the airport and endeavour to find some way of hurrying matters along. Bare Parts to be Planted Cr W. H. Hall said that it was the intention of the Public Works Department to plant every bare portion of the airport. Cr Kinsman: What are they going to sow? Cr Hall: Creeping bent and other grasses of that nature. Mr Madden is an expert, and knows which grasses will do best. He found creeping bent self-sown and thinks that it will do well there. Cr M. H. Richards said that the socalled experts had not told them when they were going to do the sowing. Cr Hall: They will be doing it at once. Cr Richards went on to say that the airport was as far off completion as ever. They had waited three years now. and they were no further ahead. A great deal of money had been spent on the airport, and the public were becoming restive. He moved along the lines indicate I at the commencement of the report. Cr H. J. said they should not overlook the fact that the Council was in a peculiar position. The Council actually did not have any standing at the mom nt, as the airport was in the hands of the Public Works Department until certa"* things had been done to it. If they took any action they might be told that the airport would be handed over to them when it was completed. Cr W. H. Hall said that the Public Works Department had never shirked its job. It was very easy for them to say “here is the airport, you sow it.” The Department had spent a lot of money cn the airport, and it was costing them £5/5/- an acre for grass seed. It was the weather which had beaten them, and, unfortunately, it had beaten them again this year. Noone was keener to see the job properly completed than the Department. Cr Richards: They have been known to be away from the job for a month at a time. If they had stuck to the job they would have been finished long ago. Cr P. B. Foote said he considered that the Council had a great deal of standing in the matter. As he remembered it, the arrangement with the Government was that the airport was to be grassed down. The original report was that the grassing was to be done, and done more or less at once. Later the Government approached the Council and said that the job was nearly finished and asked for the money to be handed over, and it was paid. That was more than two years ago, and they were told then that the job was nearly done. What Departments Said Cr Foote went on to say that the Public Works Department appeared to have said to the Department of Agriculture: “We have put in the drains and you can plant the grass.” Then the Department of Agriculture said to the Public Works Department: “You get your drains to work and our grass will grow.” Then the Public Works said to the Department of Agriculture: “You get the grass to grow and our drains will work.” It was true that adverse seasons had been experienced and there had been delays in cultivation. The solution of me matter might lie in constructing one or two runways either in concrete or tarsealed. The Department could be asked to consider this suggestion, and if it was carried out, the question of drainage would not be a serious one. Air training centres had been established at various places, and they

were well enough acquainted with weather conditions in Timaru to know that they were at least as favourable in Timaru for flying as in any other centre. Tn his opinion they were much better than in many other parts of the Dominion. He was not speaking in a spirit of criticism of the Public Works Department which, within its limits, had tried hard to grass the airport. Their performance had fallen down against their promise, and he did not think it was asking too much of the Council to request that the airport be completed either by grassing or by the construction of runways.

Cr J. S. Satterthwaite said that the Minister of Man-Power had visited Timaru recently and had spoken glowingly of airport construction throughout the Dominion. The capital expenditure on the Timaru airport was one of the smallest in the Dominion, but the airport was a poor example of construction for the Public Works Department. Claims For Training Centre The Mayor said that recently the Minister of Defence had said that air activity in the Dominion would be considerably extended and that it was the intention of the Government to set up additional training centres. In view of this, they should take an early opportunity of representing to the Government the desirability of establishing a training centre in Timaru. Up to the moment Timaru had not been considered because it did not have a workable aerodrome. The suggestion of runways was a good one, because they would make the airport available immediately construction was finished. It would not solve the present problem, but he was satisfied that the Public Works Department would provide an airport in the finish equal to any in the Dominion. They had reached the point where the airport should be completed and made available for use. The resolution, which was moved by Cr Richards and seconded by Cr was carried, Cr Mathers dissenting. The deputation which is to proceed to Wellington will comprise the Mayor and Cr W. H. Hall.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD19401015.2.23

Bibliographic details

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21785, 15 October 1940, Page 4

Word Count
1,380

TIMARU AIRPORT Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21785, 15 October 1940, Page 4

TIMARU AIRPORT Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21785, 15 October 1940, Page 4