All go on Whenuapai airport plans

[stu]

www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/4809668a6016.html

All go on Whenuapai airport plans
North Shore Times. Tuesday, 06 January 2009

The Waitakere City Council is pressing on with plans to rezone Whenuapai Airbase as a commercial airport despite the idea being vetoed by the National government.

The council has set dates for verbal hearings on what is known as Plan Change 22. They are February 9 to 11 and 16 to 17.

In December it said it expected to notify all submitters before the New Year.

The hearings will be presided over by three independent commissioners.

Many submissions came from concerned North Shore residents who were overwhelmingly against a commercial airport.

The National government has taken a strong stance saying the airbase will remain solely as a military facility for the foreseeable future.

Whenuapai Airport Action Group president Russell Stewart says: "Plan Change 22 has become largely irrelevant and the council’s pursuit of the plan change demonstrates a reckless disregard for ratepayers’ money."

The council has already spent more than $200,000 of ratepayers’ money on its pursuit of Whenuapai, he says.

That would rise to around $500,000 if the matter goes to the Environment Court, he says.

"It beggars belief that the Waitakere City Council would wish to expose its constituents this way," he says.

"It is hopeful that new Local Government Minister Rodney Hide will have such actions within his sights."

WAAG, the Defence Force, Auckland International Airport Ltd, Board of Airline Representatives NZ, Auckland Regional Health Board and many other major organisations will fight the plan change as vigorously as possible, Mr Stewart says.

"The plan change can not be allowed to be enacted because it would leave a sword of Damocles hanging over Shore residents forever.

"It is not befitting a new decade that is focused on reducing harmful emissions and promoting environmental consciousness."

[Kenny]

If they recieve so much opposition, don't you think they might step back and look at the whole thing eh?

Seems a waste of money so far.

All i know is im happy Mr Key will ensure the RNZAF will be there.
(however, im still waiting on his promise of ultra fast broadband..)

[Dave Homewood]

The council should be looking at alternate sites to build a new airport. No-one denies that it's needed,

[conman]

I think AKL Int is adequate (especially when the new runway is up and running) what we do need is a good rail system to connect people to the existing airport not lots of motorways and thousands of taxis and excessive airport parking rates.

[contourcreative]

In the past I worked at Waitakere City Council managing their Public Relations for a couple of years and worked for many years with a many Waitakere businesses including, for a number of years, the local economic development Board. This project has been pushed by Mayor Bob 'I wanna be Mayor of Super City Auckland' Harvey for years. The Hobsonville contituents have consistently returned Right Wing (if that is the correct word) Councillers, so naturally the opposition within the ward has never alienated the elements that support Harvey.

What is fascinating is how TOTALLY inconsistent proposed airport is with Waitakere's so called 'eco-city' stance, a 'brand' that is demonstrably hypocritical when you examine many of the policies pursued by the Council over the years. The $200,000 cited of course does not include the activities of Enterprise Waitakere and is considerably larger than that cited above. There were full time staff working on this 10 years ago, and I would estimate the expenditure, counting 'indirect expenditure' to be in excess of one million dollars.

A complete waste of time from one of the loosest Councils and Mayor's in the country.

[nige]

I don't know Bob Harvey personally of course (just what I see on TV) but he appears to me to be another person (kinda like politicians) that have no regard for the ratepayers (taxpayers) money being wasted away on personal agendas etc. Sheesh in this day and age of a declining economic situation (i.e. need to be wise with ratepayers money) and a change of govt wanting to retain Whenuapai as a military base, it is unbelievable to read that WCC is pressing on with it plans and pouring ratepayers money down the toilet. Maybe the Waitakere ratepayers need to find their naked emperor some clothes! (And he's obviously wanting to be keeping alot of "consultants" on side - I wonder what for?)!

[contourcreative]

One of the ironies of life is that many (not all) narcissistic personalities descend to the political stage, and then we elect them to represent OUR concerns, which is completely at odds with their psychology. As alluded to elsewhere on the forum, the Air Force occupies a geographically appropriate place in its proximity to the largest concentration of people in New Zealand. While diamond hard hypocrisy is not the preserve of all the Waitakere Council, the economic and environmental realities are largely ignored because the political raw material of councils is often so poor. The 'mandate' that a councilor has is reflective of the very small percentage of people that vote for them.

It goes like this if only 45% of voters bother to vote in a city, and an individual ward has three candidates and lets say, eight people run, you are getting representation from people who have attracted less than 4% of the total eligible vote!!!Yet in a Council they can enormously influence the whole direction of a city, quite disproportionate to their so called support.

While one desires to eschew politics on this forum, the role of Defence is totally dictated by politics, which makes real discussion very difficult. Harvey, of course was the man who stated that Norman Kirk was assassinated by the CIA. As to the naked emperor, many will recall when, as Party President and Mayor of Waitakere City, he 'dropped his trousers and 'brown eyed' a constituent! during an elction campaign. (He would claim that he was doing this as Mayor, not as Party President!). Hilarious stuff if he was Rik Mayall, but disturbing when that monumental ego is a major force in the policies of a City.

[nige]

Heh heh, maybe Harvey is a betting man. Maybe he is betting on National losing the 2011 election and if Labour wins, the airforce shift might be back on the agenda! If so, he thinks he may as well spend the next 3 years planning for that possibility! (Oh er, I hope this "betting" isn't some sort of "gambling" addiction - has he been spotted at the Sky Tower Casino rolling the dice into the wee hours. Or down at the local pokie machines supposedly having a beer with his constituents)!!!

Then again, after all, to have an airport named after oneself, in this case, "Bob Harvey International Airport" does have a certain "appeal" to one's ego, wouldn't you say???!!!

[contourcreative]

I think bestowing his name on a Landfill site would be more appropriate for Harvey.

[nige]

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10554225

Brian Rudman: Game over, the Air Force stays - so let's move on

4:00AM Friday Jan 30, 2009
By Brian Rudman

There's a cargo cult nuttiness about Waitakere City's reluctance to abandon plans to rewrite the District Plan so that Whenuapai Air Force Base can be redeveloped as a commercial airport. It's as though Mayor Bob Harvey and his allies believe that if they write: "Here be a commercial airport," on the city's grand plan, hey presto, jumbo jets will start descending from the skies, packed with millionaire tourists eager to share their wealth with the friendly
natives.

I've always regarded the idea of a second commercial airport for Auckland as misguided, for all sorts of reasons. But until local MP John Key was elected Prime Minister nearly three months ago, proponents could justifiably argue that making provision for their dream in the district plan was a prudent move. And good publicity.

However, Mr Key made it clear in the election campaign - and before and after - that a Key Government would abandon Labour's planned centralisation of the Air Force in the Manawatu. Just a week before the election, Mr Key told Newstalk ZB, "If we become the Government we are not moving Whenuapai down to Ohakea, because a huge amount of what the Air Force do is correlated to the big bulk of population that lives north of Taupo, and that is search and rescue and the like, so they're staying."

That effectively put an end to the Labour Government's plans to relocate 1300 Auckland-based Air Force staff, their families and their flying machines down country. Just last weekend Mr Key reiterated the message, emphasising that Whenuapai would continue as a defence facility. North Shore MP and Defence Minister Wayne Mapp echoed this a few days later saying "the Air Force is not going to move".

The message is clear, over the next few years in excess of $140 million is to be spent upgrading both Ohakea and Whenuapai as Air Force bases. The six-year-long debate about what to do with "a soon-to-be-vacant Whenuapai" has been overtaken by events. The base is no longer up for grabs.

Local councillors should be jubilant. The commercial airport concept only emerged seriously in 2002 when the city was scratching around for a substitute industry after the Air Force announced plans to take 1300 staff and their families - and their jobs - south to the Manawatu. It would have been a big blow to the local economy. The arguments about a substitute commercial airport shortening the trip to the airport for North Shore and West Auckland travellers only came later.

With the jobs now secure, and the site no longer on the market, it's hard to fathom what, apart from pride, is stopping Waitakere City from abandoning the planning hearings scheduled to begin in 10 days time.

Russell Stewart, a leading opponent says the council has already spent $200,000 of ratepayers' money pursuing the commercial airport dream and to continue with a hearing that is now largely irrelevant is "reckless regard" of ratepayers money.

Who could disagree?

Lined up to oppose the plan change before a panel of three independent commissioners are heavyweight organisations like the Defence Force, Auckland Regional Council, North Shore City, Auckland Regional Health Board, NZ Transport Agency and many others. Many are public bodies, represented, no doubt, by expensive glass tower lawyers. All participating in a meaningless charade. Then there'll be the inevitable appeals.

Yet deputy mayor Penny Hulse can talk about proceeding "sensibly" in the same breath as saying the council will consider postponing the hearings. What is there to consider? The game is over, the Air Force is staying put. The only sensible move is to celebrate the retention of the jobs and personnel, and abandon the hearings for good.

Even if the Government hadn't put the kibosh on the project, the hearings should be stopped in recognition of the impending reorganisation of local government to be announced in March. Creating a second Auckland airport at Whenuapai was a strictly parochial response to a local issue.

It goes against decades of regional planning which determined that Auckland would have one airport at Mangere, surrounded by noise buffer zones and fed by planned transport links. If there's to be any change to this it should be determined by the region as a whole, not by one of it's seven parts - one which might well be abolished before the commissioners can report back to it.

[vgp]

Commercial airport scheme for Whenuapai comes to an end
New 4:23PM Friday Jan 30, 2009


A proposal to build a commercial airport at Auckland's Whenuapai airbase has come to a grinding halt.

Defence Minister Wayne Mapp met with Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey today, and told him the airbase will be retained for the Royal New Zealand Airforce.

Harvey, who has been a strong advocate for a commercial airport, now says he accepts the Government's decision.

He says he now believes keeping the base is the best long term option for both the Air Force and the city.

Listed infrastructure company Infratil, which is the two-thirds owner of Wellington Airport, had joined forces with the Waitakere Council to help develop a commercial airport on the Whenuapai site.

www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10554376

[30sqnatc]

Hopefully infrastructure will now be developed so Whenuapai can fulfil all the functions of our primary airhead to replace that lost from Base Auckland with the closure of Hobsonville.

Paul

[Dave Homewood]

On the news just now I'me sure that the newsreader said that plans to close Whenuapai as an RNZAF base were on hold till the outcome of the defence review. It may not be saved yet, if I heard correctly.

[pablo]

"On the news just now I'me sure that the newsreader said that plans to close Whenuapai as an RNZAF base were on hold till the outcome of the defence review. It may not be saved yet, if I heard correctly."

Yes that is my understanding too. Despite public announcements the decision is yet to be signed off officially and will not be until after a review into the options.

[northcro]

Haven't the powers to be learn't (politicians never learn from history) that you do not have your eggs in just one basket in relation to the defence facilities of a country. This principle applies to the stupidity of just having one combined defence facility based in Ohakea.

Imagine the outcome of the Battle of Britain if the RAF were just based at few combined military bases, instead of spread over a large number of military airfields throughout the country - although this statement is extreme in contention, the same principle surely applies.

The same applies to airport infrastructures, especially with the population of the size of Auckland if in the event of a major civil defence emergency that more than one airport facility should be available for both civil and military aviation. Imagine if Auckland International Airport and/or the motorways to and from this airport were put out of action during a major emergency in any or different parts of the Auckland ithmus, even if there was a major crash or some other emergency at Auckland Airport. Having all of your eggs in one basket to me seems absolutely irresponsible.

With the facilities at Whenuapai having been left to run down by successive governments there is an urgent need to inject additional funding covering long overdue maintenance of the runways and facilities. Investment long overdue to protect and ensure the efficient utilization of these valuable facilities and resources.

The nimbys who have chosen to live near the airport presently making all the noise against retaining the airport were well aware of the existence of the airport and the associated noise. As to the North Shore residents protesting - when you confront them asking them where the flightpath of the aircraft is to Whenuapai as to so called potential aircraft noise and and polution - I have found you just get a blank stare. They are unable to give any satisfactory answer on what grounds are they protesting.

As to Bob Harvey grandstanding, I firmly believe he and his Council needs to be congratulated for their forsight for the future, as the growing population in Waitakere, Rodney and North Shore in mind continues to expand there is the major need to privide infrastructure, facilities and employment opportunities which centre around retaining the airport. As to funding what is wrong combining a commercial/ military facilities - this type of airport operation is most successful in a number of countries overseas - to fund the retention of such facilities. Imagine trying to run the horrendous gauntlet of the Resource Management Act, the nimby's, the greenie tree huggers and the cost of ever building another airport in the future if Whenuapai was closed down and another Wigram arises where the land is turned over to housing, industry etc and those valuable airport facilities are lost, trying to establish another airport in the future would be near to impossible.

[Peter Lewis]

[quote author=northcro board=Postwar thread=8269 post=66549 time=1
. . . trying to establish another airport in the future would be near to impossible.[/quote]
Which is exactly why the monopoly-lovers at AIAL are against the whole idea.

[vgp]

Air force to stay at base
By FELICITY REID - Norwest News | Thursday, 05 February 2009

The air force will remain at Whenuapai airbase for the foreseeable future as the Waitakere City Council delays public hearings on a proposed district plan change.


News that the matter of the airbase’s future usage will be before the Cabinet by the end of March has prompted mayor Bob Harvey to call a halt to the hearings until the government has weighed in.

"It makes sense to delay and then look at going forward with all the available information," Mr Harvey says.

Defence Minister Wayne Mapp has assured the council Whenuapai will remain a Royal New Zealand Air Force base for the foreseeable future and that an early start will be made to upgrading the runway and other aspects of the airfield.

Dr Mapp says keeping Whenuapai as an airbase is the best long term option for both the air force and the city.

"The minister’s commitment takes the time pressure off," Mr Harvey says.

"It looks like some real certainty will come out of this so that future generations do not regret any option being closed off."

Green Party west Auckland spokeswoman Kath Dewar supports the council’s decision to postpone the hearings.

The Green Party opposes turning the airbase into a commercial airport citing noise, safety and environmental concerns as well as poor planning and consultation processes.

"With the air force staying put the original motive to allow commercial flights has gone," Ms Dewar says.

"A commercial airport was never a good idea for Whenuapai and having made this positive first step the council should now get on and scrap the plans altogether," she says.

Mr Harvey says the proposed district plan change if approved would not have ushered in commercial flights.

"The plan change is about safeguarding infrastructure for the future," he says.

He believes the airfield and surrounding land is a vital piece of national infrastructure that should be kept intact.

www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/sundaystartimes/auckland/4837908a6497.html

[nige]

Wow, it will be interesting to see what the Govt decides to upgrade at Whenuapai and how that will affect operations. E.g. resealing/replacing the runway and taxiways etc. When Ohakea's old runway was ripped up and replaced a few years ago, the base was pretty much out of action for flying (unless one was flying Huey's and CT-4's etc). With Whenuapai's larger multi-engined aircraft I wonder whether they will temporarily relocate to Mangere and/or Ohakea?

[30sqnatc]

Feb 5, 2009 8:30:49 GMT 12 nige said:

Wow, it will be interesting to see what the Govt decides to upgrade at Whenuapai and how that will affect operations. E.g. resealing/replacing the runway and taxiways etc. When Ohakea's old runway was ripped up and replaced a few years ago, the base was pretty much out of action for flying (unless one was flying Huey's and CT-4's etc). With Whenuapai's larger multi-engined aircraft I wonder whether they will temporarily relocate to Mangere and/or Ohakea?

Thats exactly what they have been doing for some years over the Christmas break - heading for Mangere.

Paul

[Dave Homewood]

I think they should compulsory purchase Whenupai village and flatten the homes of the nimby's that live there.