Wigram Air Traffic to End
By Dave Watmuff
This was the heading that greeted readers of The Christchurch Press on Thursday 10 July 2008.
The Press article informed locals that more than 90 years of aviation history will end in February 2009, when the Wigram airfield will close. Owners of the land Ngai Tahu Property, sent a letter to all tenants informing them of the pending closure.
Ngai Tahu Property chief executive, Tony Sewell, said the closure of the airfield was a decade in the planning and he had always dealt honestly with tenants.
‘We have made no secret of the fact the airfield is going to close. We have been very honest with them. While we appreciate the airfield closure may cause some distress to you, in particular those of you operating a commercial business, you have always been aware the airfield would eventually be closed.’ The closure of the airfield will not only affect the local tenants but also the numerous ‘transit’ flyers that utilise the airfield throughout the year.
Air Force Museum Director, Mrs Therese Angelo, has been working with Ngai Tahu Property over many years to ensure there is as little adverse impact as possible on the daily operations within the Museum and adjacent Crown green space. The Air Force Museum is fielding an increasing number of calls from locals concerned that the closure of the airfield means the Museum is also about to close.
This is not the case, particularly as the RNZAF and Museum Trust Board have embarked on an ambitious refurbishment of the History Gallery and other areas within the Museum. All major refurbishment works are scheduled for completion in late September this year.
Other recent happenings within the Museum are the mounting of very successful school holiday programmes for local children and the creation of other public programmes to increase the awareness and appeal of the museum to the wider public.
The airfield’s February 2009 closure will affect the Museum annual Open Days, or at least as they have traditionally been presented, due to the restrictions placed on air displays adjacent to domestic dwellings.
The good news is that, as far as the Air Force Museum is concerned, it is business as usual. An even greater emphasis is now placed on presenting Wigram as the ‘birthplace of the RNZAF’, a place to honour our Servicemen and women, and the evolution of the current Air Force.