A & P Assoc objects to losing land to airport

September 1th, 2012
[by David Armstrong]

The Motueka A & P Association is hoping to come to an agreement with Tasman District Council over land which council wants to take for further development of Motueka aerodrome.

The A & P Association's secretary Trish Palmer has written to the council and community board objecting to the Aerodrome Development Plan, released last month, because it included taking a strip of land from the association's Marchwood Park grounds.

Trish also proposed a possible solution for the problem: for the council to buy land from thePprk's northern orchard neighbour and divide it up between the aerodrome and the A & P Association.

The Motueka A & P Association owns Marchwood Park outright, and funds its own operations without loans or grants from the community. But it, too, is feeling the pressure of continued growth on the amount of land it has.

The Aerodrome Development Group's plan proposed taking a strip of land parallel to the runway between it and Marchwood Park.

Trish said her association was disappointed that no representative of the management group discussed this plan with the association prior to its publication, when the two organisations had a history of good working relationships.

"We have a progressive long-term plan, and we budget for improvements annually," Trish wrote. "Recent improvements include upgrades to buildings, new yards, new roading, new fencing, and improved or new services. The new yards are already oversubscribed, and if we had room we would build more.

"The park is well utilised, with pressure on some areas as demand increases steadily. The park is the only Equestrian Centre in the Motueka Valleys area, and is home to Motueka Pony Club, Motueka Dressage group, Nelson Bay's Cross-country, and several training groups.

"The park is also used by several other types of groups on an ongoing basis, and we work to keep fees down to an affordable level. To this end we operate a camp for Motorhome Association members, which brings in revenue to us and to Motueka, as folk generally stay for extended periods.

"The park is used by the community for festivals, funerals, sports groups' camps, and is often the default site when groups are not able to use Goodman Park due to wet grounds. We are proud of the fact that we are able to support the community in this way."

She said the annual A & P show has seen rapid growth over the past few years, and this year will extend to three days for some sections.

"We are currently very short of land space. As an example, the cross-country course must provide a minimum of 2.2km, and the designer has to use some ingenuity to achieve this safely within the confines of the park."

She said that over the years her association has had many events we're they have borrowed parking land from the airport, such as during the annual show, in order to keep the roads around the airport and park clear.

Similarly, airport users have been able to use Marchwood Park, such as for parking for spectators at the drag cars events, and many folk training at the airport choose to camp at the park. They have also made the kitchen facilities available to airport uses upon request.

"Whenever any issues have arisen, we have found that discussion with the relevant airport personnel have resulted in amicable solutions, and we would like to keep this relationship," she wrote.

"We recognise the need for the aerodrome to continue to develop. We also recognise that the aerodrome is landlocked, with Marchwood Park as the only boundary neighbour.

"However, we are also landlocked, in that we cannot grow into the airport, and are bound by orchardists on the other sides.

"We object to, therefore, to any plan to take any of the A & P grounds. The strip shown in the plan would significantly affect several community groups: the Pony Club would lose a large part of their area; the Cross-country would become undersized and so invalid; the new yards would be gone, reducing yard space by over half; and the show itself would be forced to downsize significantly as we would lose parking and other activity areas, at a time when we are growing rapidly."

As a solution, Trish suggested that the council could see if it could obtain land from the northern orchard neighbour, on a ratio of one part to the aerodrome and 1.5 parts to the association.

"That means that for every metre of land we lose to the airport, we received 1.5m of land on that boundary. This would have to be at council cost.

"We would rather keep what we have, as any change would involve significant work for us, including legal work as we would have to change the lease agreements of our lessees, and a reorganising of the layout of the park."

>> , to be added to the page. [If this link doesn't work, use this form instead]

[ Return ]
[ Other news articles ]

We wish to thank these local community-minded businesses who generously sponsor our site. They recognise the value of supporting this community asset, and in return Motueka Online is pleased to use and recommend their services whenever appropriate.

Ray White Motueka, Motueka Floral Studio, Nelson Building Society, House of Travel,
Greenwood Active Health Great Shape Today T.O.A.D. Hall