Government won’t back Whenuapai airport proposal

Whenuapai Airbase in West Auckland. Picture / Kenny Rodger

The Government is delaying a decision about the future use of Whenuapai Airbase and is not backing moves to turn it into a commercial airport, Economic Development Minister Jim Anderton said today.

The Air Force will relocate to Ohakea from Whenuapai, near Auckland, over the next decade and Whenuapai will eventually become surplus land.

The Government has been considering alternative uses for the land, and Waitakere City Council wants it to be used for a second Auckland commercial airport.

Mr Anderton said the Air Force was going to continue to use Whenuapai for between six and 10 years - much longer than the Government had initially anticipated.

"Consolidation from Whenuapai to Ohakea will not be completed until at least 2010, and possibly as late as 2014," he said at a press conference today.

"It seems to the cabinet that to make decisions now on its disposal, when it's still going to be almost fully utilised for somewhere between six and 10 years, was not only not necessary but probably unwise."

He said that during that time there could be uses for Whenuapai which were not obvious now.

Mr Anderton said the Government knew about Waitakere City Council's interest in the land.

"As a result of extensive investigations the Government has concluded that there are no compelling national or strategic considerations to justify central government's active involvement in establishing a commercial airport at Whenuapai," he said.

"The Government is therefore taking a neutral position on whether any such airport should go ahead."

Mr Anderton said there was nothing to stop the airbase being developed as a commercial airport under a joint use agreement with the Air Force.

However, Air Force criteria would have to be met and its operational requirements could not be interfered with.

"Any resources that are required would have to be funded," he said.

"That means issues like terminals, hanger facilities and all sorts of infrastructure, even the runway itself which needs constant attention, would have to be funded."

Mr Anderton said another consideration was that there would be no guarantees about what would eventually happen to the land.

Other uses for it, such as housing, could develop between now and when the Air Force left the base.

Auckland International Airport Limited (AIAL) chief executive officer Don Huse said in a statement that today's Cabinet decision affirmed the company's view that there was no merit in a commercial airport at Whenuapai.

An Economic Development Ministry's report had concluded there were no national or strategic considerations to justify central government's active involvement in establishing a commercial airport at Whenuapai, Mr Huse said today.

"We're pleased the Government has come out with a decision. On the surface it seems that this is a practical outcome to a complex issue," he said.

- NZPA