Whanganui project approved for $10m from Provincial Growth Fund fails to get off the ground

A national simulator centre project for the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy, approved for $10 million by the Provincial Growth Fund, failed to get off the ground. Photo / Bevan Conley

A project to build a flight simulator centre for the pilot academy in Whanganui which was initially approved for more than $10 million of government funding has failed to get off the ground.

It was one of 140 different projects worth more than $240m which had their Provincial Growth Fund money reallocated, official documents showed.

The Whanganui District Council's holdings company owns the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy (NZICPA) and wanted to use the PGF money to build a National Simulator Centre there.

The centre was going to be a purpose-built facility housing three aircraft training simulators to be used by the academy's students.

The holdings company's general manager Geoff Evans said in 2018 his organisation received $400,000 from the PGF to establish a business case for the 'Advanced Aviation Hub' in Whanganui.

"The application was subsequently approved and the funds were received," Evans said.

The business case was then submitted to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in 2019, and funding of $10,793,000 was asked for to establish the simulator centre.

The application for this funding was approved, but before a funding agreement was entered into, the Covid-19 pandemic began, which Evans said is what stopped the project from going forward.

He said in June, 2020, the head of Kānoa - the regional economic and investment unit within MBIE that manages the PGF - notified council holdings several projects had been severely impacted by the pandemic.

"It was agreed the National Simulator Centre had been impacted and the potential PGF funding for the project would be terminated due to the repurposing of the PGF following Covid-19."

Former Whanganui mayor Hamish McDouall said the council had planned to make an announcement about the centre the week the first lockdown was announced.

The former mayor said it was decided there was no longer a use case for the centre, as Covid had caused the closure of New Zealand's borders and the majority of NZICPA's students were foreign.

Evans described the project as being on hold, and whether it would proceed would depend on the council's investment partners and whether it was still a viable project to proceed with.

NZICPA chief executive Gerard Glanville said the project would be brought before the board again soon to determine its viability.