The following media release has been issued by the Grow Whakatāne Advisory Board.
Members of the Grow Whakatāne Advisory Board have condemned Air New Zealand’s decision to withdraw scheduled air services from Whakatāne Airport and other regional centres in April next year.
Spokesman Jacob Kajavala describes the move as a “shameful betrayal of regional New Zealand” and has called for Government intervention to achieve a more balanced approach to regional development.
Mr Kajavala, who is also the President of the NZ Forest Contractors Association and a board member of the Bay of Connections economic development advisory group, says Air New Zealand’s service withdrawal from regional destinations is an attack on the economic viability of the provinces concerned.
“This simply exacerbates the problem of people being forced to move to the major centres to look for employment opportunities, which directly equates to suffering in provincial areas like ours,” he says. “Effectively, the regions are being hollowed out, with people having to move to cities which don’t have the infrastructure or facilities in place to cater for them – it’s a lose-lose situation and it’s high time the Government took a more hands-on approach to its policy settings and started to address the country’s growing economic development iniquities.”
He says that with a little vision, the need to invest billions in roading and public transport infrastructure in the larger cities could be made unnecessary, freeing-up the development funding required to keep regional New Zealand vital and viable.
“Grow Whakatāne believes it is unfair that a virtual state-owned monopoly should be making policy decisions that have such far-reaching consequences, with little or no consultation or notice. The right to run a regional network for profit does not provide any moral justification for picking and choosing which routes it will service.”
Mr Kajavala says the effects of the withdrawal of services from Whakatāne Airport will be felt throughout the Eastern Bay of Plenty – through reduced patronage in accommodation, entertainment and dining outlets; direct and indirect job losses; and increased commuting time for businesspeople travelling to and from Auckland.
“The viability of Whakatāne Airport is also under threat, and with it the joint investment in that asset by the New Zealand Government and the Whakatāne District Council. There’s little doubt that the loadings achieved on the existing Whakatāne-Auckland service mean that it is and could remain profitable and Grow Whakatāne fully supports the calls by the Mayor of Whakatāne, Tony Bonne, to have this decision reviewed at the highest level.”