9-10 - 93 Wi gram sale rus loca By Lisa Allison A New Zealand Defence Force letter telling the Christchurch City Council that Wigram. Base will be sold "without undue delay". has shocked groups involved in retaining the and as a working airfield. Mayor Vicki Buck, Wigram Airfield Development Support Group chairperson Lois Short and Dep uty Mayor Morgan taney, who sits on Ruth Richardson's Wigram taskforce, say the letter struck their organisations as a bolt out of the blue. Ms Buck said yesterday the letter, from Group Captain Ross Marbeck, was out of line with the support shown from other Government agencies and Government ministers. Disposal "We're hoping this letter is just a misunderstanding, — a breakdown in communication," she said. In the letter Group Captain Marbeck said the defence force was committed to the planned closure of Wigram by December 1995 and its subsequent disposal "at best realisation without undue delay." The objective is not only to reduce operating costs, but also to maximise the return for capital funding of other projects. "Clearly a long-term leasing arrangement would run counter n upsets l gro to this commitment," Group Captain Marbeck said. The Office of Crown Lands had held off a sell-back of land to the former owners or their descendents in the belief the council might want the airfield for a public use. "This is clearly not now the case. We will therefore be asking the Office of Crown Lands to initiate offer-back of certain parts of the base to former owners or successors. It is expected that this process alone could take some time." "You will appreciate that the • decision to close Wigram was not taken lightly. Having reached that decision, the New Zealand Defence Force is now committed to implementing closure and subsequent disposal without undue delay," he said. Speaking from Wellington yesterday, Group Captain Marbeck said the Defence Force's plans would not infringe on the work of Ms Richardson's taskforce. However asked if it was possible the land, which included parts of the runway, could change nands betore December 1995, he said: "Anything's possible." • Alarm bells Group Captain Marbeck's letter came at a time when Ms Buck was hes ing. talks with Aviation Serv- . Although the plans were tentative, the group was looking at a joint venture with an overseas firm which would see the base uDS used for aviation and aviation engineenng. Cr Fahey said alarm bells started to ring when the Wigram taskforce read Group Captain Marbeck's letter. "The attitude of the Defence Force has to be changed," he said: "There is certainly a lack of understanding and a lack of communication here. "There will be various ministers who will be embarrassed by the Defence Force's actions without consultation." The bid to retain Wigram as an airfield and runway had the full support of Ruth Richardson and the Cabinet was looking at other ways, apart from keeping the land's defence designation, to retain the land. Upsetting Mrs Short said the letter had horror boro Tee organisshonk and "But this is not the end of the road," she said. "There's no need to worry about it — the discussions are now at Cabinet level. And it's a Government decision in the end." However, the letter was upsetting, considering the amount of work that was being put into looking for a viable future for Wigram, Mrs Short said. Ms Buck has written to Ms Richardson, Minister of Defence Warren Cooper and MP Philip Burdon seeking clarification of the situation. 13-10-93 Get behind Wigram, says Fahey Canterbury people should actively get behind the campaign to retain Wigram air base anc come forward with ideas for the site's future, says deputy Mayor Morgan Fahey. His comments follow the Cabinet's decision to block the Defence Force's move to sell Wigram "without undue delay," until the Government taskforce, which Cr Fahey jointly chairs, has investigated viable alternatives and submitted options to central Government. Cr Fahey said the Wigram issue reached crisis point last week with the Refune Core until to the ing it sell-off procedures were under way. Selwyn MP Ruth Richardson's announcement that the sale of Wigram had been blocked came as à "great relief" to local groups involved in retaining the base as an aviation, recreation and education centre. "Now we can get on with the planning to turn a loss of anything up to $40m into a positive thing for Canterbury and for New Zealand, " he said.