$600,000 appeal for helicopter base

An artist's impression of the planned Coromandel Rescue Helicopter Trust base. Photo / Supplied

Plans for a new permanent hangar in the Coromandel are soaring ahead and the trust behind it has set an ambitious timeframe to have the base set up by October this year.

The newly formed Coromandel Rescue Helicopter Trust has given itself just three months to raise $600,000 in cash and kind in its bid to have the hangar and crew accommodation built before Labour Weekend.

The facility will be built in Whitianga beside the Mercury Bay Aero Club airfield. Thames Coromandel District Council has agreed to lease the southwestern corner of its 28.7ha Moewai Rd site, which is currently used for grazing, for the new base.

A resource consent for the 20m x 14m hangar with office, store room and toilet facilities, as well as a four-bedroom house for helicopter crew is being processed by the council.

Auckland's second Westpac rescue helicopter has been based in the Coromandel during summer since 2010 and it has been so successful that residents are keen to set up a permanent base with the view of eventually having the helicopter based there all year round.

The rescue helicopter is based in the Coromandel between December and the end of January and also returns for the long weekends.

In the year ended April 2012, the rescue helicopter carried out 134 rescue missions in the Coromandel. Patients are flown to Auckland or Waikato Hospital to be treated, depending on where they are from.

Coromandel Rescue Helicopter Trust chairman Walter Russell said having a permanent site would enable the rescue team to be based on site and speed up responses, as well as ensure the helicopter and medical equipment was secure and kept away from the damaging salt air.

Mr Russell has already received offers from tradespeople keen to volunteer their time, equipment or surplus materials to reduce costs. The trust also planned to launch fundraising initiatives targeting from Port Jackson to Waihi and had applied to community trusts for assistance.

"It's a gamble at this stage but I'm sure if we are passionate about getting it, it will happen. Money is starting to come in already which is great."