THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 1993. Way to sa The Christchurch City Council will be asked next week to commit itself to a course of action to save the Wigram air base for community uses, after the RNZAF vacates the site in 1995. A council sub-committee has spent several months exploring the viability of Wigram as a stand-alone civil aviation base, and has concluded that the historic airfield has such potential. Rather than become enmeshed in the protracted procedures that attend the disposal of State land, the sub-committee wants the city council to seek a lease of the 247-hectare base, with the council then co-ordinating the various aviation, recreational, and educational uses proposed for Wigram. Inherent in this . proposal is the requirement that the Defence Department retain ownership of the complex. On the face of it, this precondition contradicts Defence's land disposal strategy. With shrinking budgets, the military has already closed several North Island camps and bases and sold the land, the funds being returned to Defence to defray operating costs. Wigram is being closed as part of the contraction of Air Force activity, and it would be reasonable for Defence to anticipate a substantial revenue boost from the sale of the base. The dollar value of Wigram and its assets is a shifting sum, with figures from $10 million to $40 million being aired from time to time. The Government has indicated it wants a smooth transition from military to civilian control of the complex, and the council's subcommittee believes this could include a realistic rather than a market price for the base. Given the difficulties of adapting Wigram to various private uses and users, a leasing proposal is sound. It would allow Christchurch to plan achievable targets within a budget that did not jeopardise the ratepayers' input, while at the same time ensuring Defence continuing return on its investment. It would also allow the Air Force the option to return to Wigram at some future time. Although it is vac the Air Force is n 76-year link with t flying. The 3 Squadr unit will continue RNZAF Museum. Leasing would, fragmentation of Wi land. Under the dis cating Wigram in late 1995, not totally abandoning its the birthplace of military ron Detachment helicopter at wigram, as will the above all, prevent the gram into small parcels of posal procedure, the land ve Wigram must first be offered to its original owners or their immediate descendants. The council, which has identified 29 potential claimants, is not optimistic about a civilian airfield plan proceeding if it has to negotiate with 29 different landowners. Neither would a lease procedure hinder the plans of the Ngai Tahu Maori Trust Board, which has expressed an interest in developing an educational facility at Wigram. At present the city council has expressions of interest from 18 aviation groups keen to use Wigram, with proposals including the training of commercial pilots for overseas airlines. The Wigram Consortium is also well advanced in its studies into the establishment of a centre for aviation training and aviation technology at the base. The co-chairman of the council subcommittee, Cr Morgan Fahey, believes a carefully co-ordinated development programme could result in private users of Wigram generating economic benefit for the region. No-one can be certain of this, and indeed the decision to be taken by the city council on August 10 has some elements of a gamble about it. But it is a gamble worth taking. Since its inception, in 1917, as a flying training base, Wigram has been the focus of military aviation training in New Zealand, and the substantial investment in the buildings and services, including a new $4.5 million runway, means the complex should be retained and used if at all possible. Many Cantabrians feel this way. In April, 16,158 people signed a petition, organised by the Wigram Airfield Development Support Group, which called on the Government to retain the aviation classifications on the base. The group felt that it would be extremely wasteful to abandon Wigram after the years of investment in its runway, buildings, and services. If the city council endorses its subcommittee's recommendations, the pressure will go on the Government and Defence to cushion the economic blow on Canterbury of the RNZAF's move north. Given a supportive nod from its owners, Wigram could continue to be an important el financial infrastructure. it could become the ic creating new jobs. The recognises this. The ke the vision is shared i in lement in the region's - And it could be more. ocus of new industries, council sub-committee ey question is whether Wellington.