VIRTUE OF LEVELS SITE

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23257, 19 July 1945, Page 4

VIRTUE OF LEVELS SITE

“Present Airport Obsolete” I Reply To Borough Council "It has occurred to us that perhaps your Council does not fully understand the difficult position it proposes to place the Hon. It. Semple in if, as it now appears, you wish to throw the onus on him of condemning' the airport." This statement is contained in a letter adopted lay a meetin- 1:.:-: night of the South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce nd which will be forwarded to the Timaru Borough Council. “The Minister has already given strong evidence in another South Canterbury project of his faith in. and loyalty to his engineers and staff,” continues the letter. “You propose to ask him to condemn the work and the advice of his own officers. Would it not be a better proposal to agree with the South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce that the development of aviation has been such that the Saltwater Creek airport is now too small and is obselete, and the best site in New Zealand is available at the Levels and can be built at a comparatively low cost? This site should be recommended to the Minister. According to our information, Mr Semple was never keen on the site at Saltwater Creek, but agreed to it only to afford work for the unemployed. “According to a published report on your discussion on the Chamber's recent letter, it was stated that the matter should be left with the Public Works Department. Our reply is that the airport has been in the hands of the Public Works for many years. It was further stated that the letter blamed a former Council for choosing the site. That is contrary to fact. We were careful not to blame anyone. The mistake was made by men who were actuated by the best motives. The report also stated that the letter was an attempt bv two men to stampede Ute Council. We stated that we wished to be co-operative and that we intended to press for the Levels site. We reitrate our question. Is the Council still of the opinion that the present airport is the most suitable for South Canterbury? At the meeting of public bodies about eight months ago it was agreed that South Canterbury should have the best airport available in South Canterbury. Expensive Top-dressing “Recently we made an inspection of the aerodrome ■ and there were indications that at least half of the area had been recently ("o-dressed with an expensive chemical manure which we think cost between £25 to £3O a ton and that the usual top-dressing is about 3cwt to the acre. We understand that the remainder of the area is to be topdressed.

“It is our considered opinion that we should be unanimous in South Canterbury and not blame anyone for past mistakes. We respectfully point out that procrastination is the enemy of progress.” A letter had been received from the Mayor of Prhnerston North asking for the support of the Chamber to have Palmerston North made a terminal airport, said Mr W. S. Minehan. The Levels site had al! the requisites of a terminal: runways up to one and a half miles could be had; the hills being more than 11 miles distant from the Alps it would be suitable for beam wireless for direction in night flying and in fogs and Timaru was the closest point to Melbourne. The present site at Saltwater Creek had none of these advantages. The Chamber should show the people of South Canterbury that the Chamber was only concerned with placing the district in the forefront of post-war aviation. At the meeting of local bodies about eight months ago it was then decided that South Canterbury should have the best possible site, said Mr J. M. Bishop. The Council expressed concern about the nationalisation of airways. Surely if the site at the Levels were to be used, then the Government would recompense the controlling authority. Nationalisation was a bogy as far as the Levels site was concerned. Advice to Chamber

Another claim to having the Levels site made a terminal was that the prevailing winds was from the north-east 'which was the best wind for planes taking off. said Mr V. J. Wilson. Saltwater had been over the Creek site and much money would have to be spent in regrassing. The Chamber should go ahead and purchase the site at the Levels. It could be sub-let at a price to offset the purchase price. From his knowledge of the Public Works Department many spokes would be placed in their w.ieel before progress was made. Mr A. R. Graham: If the Saltwater Creek site is suitable, let the Borough Council get an A grade licence. Mr S. G. McClelland: The Government engineer said that lie could not grant an A grade licence to the airport. “In our letter,” said the ’■'resident (Mr A. J. Parris), “we mad° no reference to persons. We have a good case backed by solid facts. The Borough Council is the licensing authority and it is up to the Council to give a lead. If the Council co-operates with us we will "et a good airport which will be as welcome to the Government as it is to South Canterbury. The councillors are reasonable men and I am sure that ultimately they will support the Level* site.”