Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 6, 2006 22:20:56 GMT 12
Have you heard today that Housing New Zealand has announced plans to go ahead with building 3000 new houses on Hobsonville Air Force Base?
This makes me livid.
Labour has been funding the restoration of disused naval and army sites around the country with a much lesser historical value than the base at Hobsonville, and now they plan to destroy the most significant aviation site left (after National destroyed Wigram).
Hobsonville was founded in 1928, long before most other airfields in this country. It has been home continuous to an RNZAF presence, but also army and navy units, and also significant companies such as TEAL and the first de Havilland importer and aerial photographer in this country, Douglas Mill.
In WWII it not only trained thousands of airmen and waafs but also saw most of the RNZAF's aircraft pass through for assembly and/or maintenance at once time or another. It was the original home of No. 1 RD, No 1 SD, No. 1 TTS and many other units.
In 1993 the SAS who were kicked out with the army from Papakura were sent to Hobsonville and spent literally millions making the base secure for them. I hear they are now back in Papakura which was supposed to have closed.
A study around two years ago showed the ground was so toxic it was impossible to legally build houses on the airfield. What happened to this info? Pushed under the rug, was it?
Another chapter of the base's history was it became a film studio where The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was made. This hugely successful film means that sequels are in the offing, but I've been told director Andrew Adamson will only make them in NZ if he can use the same Hobsonville facilities. Interestingly, the day after the Government awards him a gong in the Queen's Birthday list, they announce the base will be destroyed by housing developers. Do I smell some sort of trade-off? If you make it in Wellington, we'll give you a nice pc OBE-equivalent...
Of the 3000 planned homes, 500 are to be state houses. The only opposition to this whole affair i have heard is John Keye of National saying state housing estates don't work. No-one seems to care a jot that a national treasure, a historic airfield more significant than any other in Auckland is about to be lost forever.
Sure, the base is a huge piece of empty land, in the middle of an ever-expanding and decaying cityscape. Yes, it is "prime real estate". But why does it have to be built on? Do the Government and Auckland planners forget that cities need big green open spaces, parks, football fields, etc? There seem to be bugger all of them being laid down in the dogbox communities that are springing up and cramming in more and more people.
My vote is, if, and I mean IF, the place has no further military use, I seriously think it should become a parkscape, a film studio and a national heritage site where the buildings are preserved for future generations, rather than what has happened to the one-time historic treasures at Wigram. When I was there in April it was hard not to cry, standing among the ruins of a once incredible place, and hearing nothing but the tap tap tap of hammers as a dozen more homes were built all looking the same, all on the site of Henery Wigram's own WWI hangars. Criminal, simply criminal.
This makes me livid.
Labour has been funding the restoration of disused naval and army sites around the country with a much lesser historical value than the base at Hobsonville, and now they plan to destroy the most significant aviation site left (after National destroyed Wigram).
Hobsonville was founded in 1928, long before most other airfields in this country. It has been home continuous to an RNZAF presence, but also army and navy units, and also significant companies such as TEAL and the first de Havilland importer and aerial photographer in this country, Douglas Mill.
In WWII it not only trained thousands of airmen and waafs but also saw most of the RNZAF's aircraft pass through for assembly and/or maintenance at once time or another. It was the original home of No. 1 RD, No 1 SD, No. 1 TTS and many other units.
In 1993 the SAS who were kicked out with the army from Papakura were sent to Hobsonville and spent literally millions making the base secure for them. I hear they are now back in Papakura which was supposed to have closed.
A study around two years ago showed the ground was so toxic it was impossible to legally build houses on the airfield. What happened to this info? Pushed under the rug, was it?
Another chapter of the base's history was it became a film studio where The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was made. This hugely successful film means that sequels are in the offing, but I've been told director Andrew Adamson will only make them in NZ if he can use the same Hobsonville facilities. Interestingly, the day after the Government awards him a gong in the Queen's Birthday list, they announce the base will be destroyed by housing developers. Do I smell some sort of trade-off? If you make it in Wellington, we'll give you a nice pc OBE-equivalent...
Of the 3000 planned homes, 500 are to be state houses. The only opposition to this whole affair i have heard is John Keye of National saying state housing estates don't work. No-one seems to care a jot that a national treasure, a historic airfield more significant than any other in Auckland is about to be lost forever.
Sure, the base is a huge piece of empty land, in the middle of an ever-expanding and decaying cityscape. Yes, it is "prime real estate". But why does it have to be built on? Do the Government and Auckland planners forget that cities need big green open spaces, parks, football fields, etc? There seem to be bugger all of them being laid down in the dogbox communities that are springing up and cramming in more and more people.
My vote is, if, and I mean IF, the place has no further military use, I seriously think it should become a parkscape, a film studio and a national heritage site where the buildings are preserved for future generations, rather than what has happened to the one-time historic treasures at Wigram. When I was there in April it was hard not to cry, standing among the ruins of a once incredible place, and hearing nothing but the tap tap tap of hammers as a dozen more homes were built all looking the same, all on the site of Henery Wigram's own WWI hangars. Criminal, simply criminal.
