28-1-94 29-9-94 • Robin Wilkinso of retirement Champion Spark Mini 7 champio Wigram last wee n, who came out to contest the • Plugs national onship round at ekend, is in two minds about taking part in the second and final round at Pukekohe on February 6. Jeff Brook leads the points chase with 73 points, followed by Wayne Timms (66), Bryan Hartley (62), Wilkinson (59); Jason Richards (58), and Englishman Chris Lewis (55). South Island Mini 7 spokesman Tony Church reports that Brook, Timms, Richards, and Justin Neill are likely to travel to Pukekohe. • Malcolm Ramsay, boss of the Birrana Engineering team which ran Lady Wigram Trophy winner Paul Stokell, thinks young New Zealand hope Greg Murphy would create a sensation if he raced in Australia this season. He predicts that Murphy will regularly quality in the first three places. Murphy and his father, Kevin, are searching for sponsorship to enable Greg to do the six-race televised Australian Formula Brabham series. • Don Elvy had a broken stub axie on Saturday and a broken axie on Sunday during his Wigram chase of TraNZam GTR points. Kim Buckley was also out of luck with still more engine problems. He is said to be thinking of pursuing the option of a Chev engine for the Cortina. • Dave Slater's Holden HQ: imported from Australia as a race car, proved slightly faster than the New Zealand-built opposition at Wigram. South Island front-runner Stuart Oughton, of Waimate, says the car's advantage lies in slightly superior traction. The Ho register are likely to investigate a control suspension package identical to the one stipulated in Australia. Care urg Wig ram ed on leases by Anabright Hay The Wigram Taskforce State Owned Enterprise, qu ment organisation, or privat should be responsible for t Wigram air base to commerc Defence is not permitted redundant bases and until ment's intervention last year was in the preliminary stages of disposing of the base through an official process of offering the complex back to the original landowners or their heirs. This is not favoured by the Christchurch City Council-led task force, which believes splitting the base among 29 potential claimants would make many of the proposed commercial projects impossinle Members of the task force met the Minister of Defence, Mr Cooper, on Thursday to discuss proposals it is investigating for use of the land. The Minister emphasised these were only options at th Mr Cooper said there had t declaration from Canterbi about what they wanted to the Wigram air base. If it had the option, Def like to sell the base for the be he would be surprised if t buyer for all the available la The Cabinet intervened Defence plan to sell the ba until a task force had studier civilian uses. Mr Cooper said it w any future uses of believes a compete with the fac asi Govern- Christchurch Airport. te company He hoped some of th he lease of that were off the base as important that the site did not cilities offered at le air force houses could be sold soon ial users. While to lease its proposed the Govern- had to be Cr Fahey the civilian They i that wou commerci: d yesterday his stage. training s been no real At pre: but any zo ury people City Plat • happen to Wigram proposals fence would important est price but permanen there was a Cr Fah and. to discuss to block a transition se last year commerci i options for He agree with Chri a variety of projects were for the land more evidence still gathered to establish viability. "There is a lot of idealism rather than re alism and l've got to deal in realism rather than airyfairy ideas," Mr Cooper said. This week's meeting had been useful and "cleared some of the air," Mr Cooper said A member of the task force, Christchurch' Deputy Mayor, Cr Morgan Fahey, said about 50 proposals had been received from potential users of the land. Many were attractive proposals and would be of great value to the city. inciuded a pilot training school uld train overseas pilots to tal level, and a national driving school for youth. sent the base was zoned rural oning changes in the impending n would be advantageous to and enhance the present 5. Cr Fahey said. It was t that future users had some ney of tenure. hey said the task force still had s with the Minister a smooth n to allow the proposed lal ventures to be established. d proposals must not compete istchurch International Airport.