ROTORUA AERODROME

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 30, 5 February 1935, Page 10

ROTORUA AERODROME

COUNCIL ADOPTS REPORT. LABOUR COSTS OF £15,000. ROTORUA, June. 24. 'l'ho Rotorua Borough " Council decided last evening to adopt the recommendation of the Reserves Com mittee and to donate £650 toward the work t<j be carried out on the Rotorua aerodrome, provided the £250 promised by the Controller of Civil Aviation could be offset against the amount of £9OO to be found by the council. The Mayor, Mr. T. Jackson, said the plans allowed for a s-ix-way landing ground, and it would be capable of accommodating the largest commercial ’planes at present in use anywhere in Australia. The cost to the council would be spread over a a period of two years. The cost of the labour, amounting to £15,000, would be provided by the Unemployment Board. The work would be done on a contract basis. Mr. Coleman asked if this would relieve the necessity of subsidising ordin ary relief labour. The Mayor stated that when the work was fully in hand there should be little unemployment in the town with the exception of those who were unfit for heavy work. The policy of the Unemployment Board was to employ men as near their homes as possible, and he did not think men .vould be imported. The council now had an opportunity of getting an enormous job done which would be impossible for any local body itself to attempt. Air. Coleman, while agreeing with the Mayor on most points, said the ratepayers had to be considered, and he would support the scheme only on condition that the chairman of the Works Committee would agree to re duce the relief work subsidy estimated by the same amount as the council was being called upon to pay. Mr. Goodson, the chairman of the committee, refused to give this guarantee. Mr. Coleman then placed his sug gestions as an amendment, but failed to find a seconder.