AIRPORT TOLD IT CAN'T LEASE EXTRA LAND HAWKES BAY
Kathy WEBB
1 October 2008
THE Government is refusing to allow Hawke's Bay's airport to lease extra land it needs to lengthen the runway for jets.
The airport board wants to build a jet-capable runway before the Rugby World Cup in 2011, but State Owned Enterprises Minister Trevor Mallard has rejected three letters from the airport board's chairman, Stuart McKinlay, seeking a long-term lease on 20 hectares of Landcorp-owned Ahuriri Station at the southern end of the runway.
The farm and the Government's 50 per cent share in the airport business are earmarked for settlement of the Wai 55 Treaty claim. The claimants support a long-term lease, but that has not swayed Mr Mallard.
"I remain open to the lease proposal if evidence can be presented which clearly demonstrates the viability of the runway extension. Please contact me in the future if the evidence becomes available," he wrote in June.
In July, he responded to another letter from the airport, saying he could not grant a lease because "the non-farm values of Ahuriri Station remain unclear".
Runway extension campaigner Simon Nixon said a jet-capable runway was a vital piece of infrastructure, and the lack of one was costing Hawke's Bay every year.
Mr McKinlay said the airport board was disappointed by Mr Mallard's stance.
Apart from allowing an extension of the runway from 1300 to 1900 metres, the Landcorp land would serve as a buffer zone protecting the flight path for the existing runway.
"The next step for the future of the airport is that it's essential that Hawke's Bay has a greater shareholding in it," Mr McKinlay said.
The other 50 per cent of the business, and nearly all the land it sits on, are owned by Napier City and Hastings District councils, in a joint venture dating back to 1962.
Only the councils can appoint directors to the airport's administering authority, though that will change under the impending corporatisation, which will give the Government two of the four seats on the new board.
The airport land will remain in Hawke's Bay public ownership, under lease to the airport company.
National's MP for Tukituki, Craig Foss, said the situation was absurd. The Government had reluctantly agreed to corporatisation so the airport could borrow for development, "but they are trying to handicap it before it starts. That's not fair. We will do all we can to make it happen."
©2008 Fairfax New Zealand Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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