WHAKATANE AIRFIELD

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 43, 20 June 1947, Page 5

WHAKATANE AIRFIELD

FURTHER DISCUSSION BUSINESS MEN’S SUPPORT How the Whakatane Chamber of Commerce had kept urging the need for an airfield for many years before the outbreak of the war was mentioned by speakers at the Chamber’s meeting on Tuesday.

The president, Mr R. T. Morpeth, reported on the recent combined meeting of representatives of all district organisations interested in pushing the construction of an airfield at the sandhills site next to the Whakatane golf links. The chamber had joined with the Aero Club and Borough Council in making representations to the Government. It was a pity that the Aero Club with a membership of 120, including many former airmen, had no airfield from which they could do flying. The Chamber was thoroughly alive to the fact that the Whakatane district needed an airfield as a means of shortening travel with other parts of New Zealand.

A plan of the site of the airfield was handed round for members of the Chamber to study. It was mentioned that runways of 1130yds, 830 yds and 1120yds could be obtained in various directions. This was sufficient for the types of aircraft that would be using the field. In general discussion it was stressed that the combined committee was anxious to see the sandhills site set aside for use as an airfield, so that it would not be used for any other purpose.

In the meantime the Chamber was doing all it could to assist in the move to provide Whakatane district with an airfield. No one realised better than businessmen the value of an air service, which would cut down the travelling time to Auckland from about 10 hours by train to perhaps only 50 minutes by air.

Mr A. J. Canning referred to efforts by the Chamber in past years to secure an airfield. The Shaw’s Farm site had been surveyed at one time, and but for the intervention of the war the district might have had an airfield by now.

Regarding the site Mr H. G. Warren said it was far enough away from the hills to meet all the requirements of air experts. Members of the- Aero Club said that soon after the plan of the sandhill site had been sent to the Air Department a plane had flown low over the area, apparently taking aerial photographs. It.was probable that this information had been passed on to the Minister of Works.