Hurunui District Council grants permission for new helipad

Cheviot Lions Helipad Committee chair Giles Pinfold (left) and committee member Emmet Daly on the Miller Street Reserve site for the proposed concrete helipad. Photo / Hurunui District Council

RNZ

It is hoped a new helipad in a rural North Canterbury town will make it easier for emergency helicopters to land.

The Hurunui District Council has granted permission for a pad to be built inside Cheviot’s Miller Street Reserve.

It is where the helicopters land now - but if the ground is too wet they struggle, and the fire service has to go out every time it lands to light up the field.

Cheviot Lions Helipad Committee chairperson Giles Pinfold said the helicopters were vital for the rural community which had limited medical services.

“We’ve had a couple of incidents in the last couple of months when the helicopter had trouble landing,” he said.

“One of them was because the ground was so wet, it couldn’t land on the ground without sinking into it; and other surfaces that were hard, there was too much of a crosswind.

“So that’s why we need a new helipad.

“The flight time from Cheviot into the hospital at Christchurch is about 20 minutes compared to a road trip of an hour-and-a-half.”

Pinfold said now the helipad had consent, local clubs would begin fundraising to pay for it.

“All-up the project has about $100,000, which includes around about $40,000 for the lights that will be in the pad and the control system to operate those lights.

“The control system we heard will be funded through the Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue Trust.

“We want to have the helipad up and running by the end of the year.”

- RNZ