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Okiwi Airfield 
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Mr Chairman, Board Members - 8th Feb 2012 With regard to Okiwi Airport. I don’t wish to dwell on ground that has been covered previously, but would like to take this opportunity to include 'Jack Yates’ open letter to the Bulletin and the responses to that letter. Sadly the Board has not responded via the Bulletin as suggested nor directly to Jack. I have been told “off the record” That the estimate for sealing Okiwi has ballooned by around $800,000. This is apparently because of the need to raise the runway level to combat flooding, and as the runway level will be higher, the runway will then need to be wider. This sounds reasonable, or would be so IF Okiwi Airport flooded. However it does not. In very wet weather it is subject to ponding, a problem which can be cured with shape correction, and of course, in very wet weather it becomes boggy, a problem which would be cured by sealing. Flood, it does not. · We have lived within 500 metres and in clear view of the airport for over 30 years. In this time it has never flooded. This includes weather events such as Cyclone Bola. · Other local residents will concur with this observation. · The photo attached was taken Feb 6th at a 2.9 metre high tide. The biggest tide for the 24 months Dec 2010, Nov 2012 is 3.6 metres. So, a rise of a further 3.5 cm is the most that can be expected tidally. This will still leave the level about 1 metre lower than the airstrip. There is no close waterway. The rain would need to cause a wall to wall flood of adjacent paddocks in order to flood the airstrip. I suggest that Board member Scott Mabey, who farms these paddocks may agree that this does not happen. The flood myth, is carried on p 2 & p4 of a BECA report titled “Okiwi Airfield – Airport Planning-District Planning Advice” dated November 2008, but has probably been perpetuated from an earlier consultant document, wording of NOTAMs, or even word of mouth. It is pretty certain that neither the consultants, nor the planners have inspected the airport in the kind of weather that would show whether or not it does actually flood, as the airport would be inaccessible by road from the southern end of the island in that kind of weather. At the end of section 2.3 of the report, ‘Forecast Comment’, p5 it is stated “Consultation with the local community and users of the airfield has not been undertaken as part of this assessment.” This I am sure applies to the whole document. The point of all this, and if I have been informed correctly, Auckland Council are proposing to either waste funds in the region of $800,000 in order to correct a problem that does not exist, or possibly abandon the whole project as too expensive because of the cost of rectifying a problem that does not exist. I would ask you both as a board, and as individuals to vigorously query any assertion that Okiwi Airport is flood prone, and if necessary employ an independent surveyor to make an assessment. I realise that BECA are the largest consulting firm in the Asia Pacific region, however in this case they have clearly made a mistake. While I do not subscribe to conspiracy theories it does seem that as soon as one ridiculous obstacle to reliable operation at Okiwi is dealt with, another is dreamed up to take its place. We have had --- runway too short, runway oriented in the wrong direction, runway too rough, sneeze weed, nesting dotterels, and others. Once these had been debunked, we had sand dumped on the runway, which was very effective in putting the airport out of use, and now we have the phantom floods. I’m pretty sure we are about to see figures for low passenger interest, gathered of course over the period that GBA & FMS have not been using Okiwi. What we have not had is meaningful action, which includes meaningful maintenance. Kevin Burke, Okiwi OKIWI AIRPORT IS NOT PRONE TO FLOODING. |
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18 Oct 2011 Okiwi Airport It must be close to the normal opening time of the Okiwi Airport, because Airport maintenance presumably scheduled for commencement during the winter has just commenced, necessitating prolonged closure for an even longer period. I wish to write this as an open letter to the Barrier Bulletin, and the Auckland City Council, Great Barrier Local Board, The North Barrier Ratepayers Association, Great Barrier Airlines and Fly –My- Sky. To me it is unbelievable that annual maintenance starts at this time of the year and the sign of this is a great pile of sand being spread out to fill in holes and ruts, made by rabbits and landing aircraft from the last time it was open. One has to ask, what value if any is sand for this type of job? No hint of soil or any grass seed and what value does sand have, even if perchance it is rolled? One wonders what sort of contract was let by the Council for maintenance work and to what value. Do our airlines know the details of such a contract? Have they had any input into the contract? Further to that remark, have they in fact informed the Council as to what winter maintenance they believe is necessary so that a minimum safe standard can be maintained? I have heard of many complaints from the airlines during the summer (open airport season) about the roughness of the surface of Okiwi Airport, but has perhaps lethargy taken over during the winter? I know that many submissions have been made to our local Board during the year, but can they advise us of any positive progress following the relay of such submissions to the Auckland Council. Cannot we bring the whole Okiwi Airport resurfacing and drainage plan out into the open, have a critical path programme in place to become effective for the next closure period. I have read a letter dated 7th August 2011, written to the local board on the very subject of maintenance and I am writing this some two months later. What has been the problem in even commencing work as late as August? While strong rumours have been floating around that the sealing of Okiwi Airport is high on the Council list, I believe we are still in “never -never land” because until we get, as I mentioned before, a critical path programme, from the Auckland Council, those rumours remain just what they are. I and our community will be most interested to read replies to my concern from the recipients of this letter. Your sincerely Jack Yates, Port Fitzroy |
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4 Nov 2011 Jack Yates, I can heartily agree with all the sentiments you expressed in your letter about the Okiwi airport. I was at a meeting last year, at the Motu cafe, where we heard some very compelling reasons why the north residents need to have the Okiwi airfield sealed. We also heard from some of the local Barrier board, and city coucillors that the sealing of Okiwi Airport is high on the Council list. But as you say, it is still in the realm of the “ never never” and we have heard nothing of the sort since. I can’t express enough the frustrations, the cost, both monetary and time wise that the closure of Okiwi airport costs us each day. Between Orama and OPC here at Karaka bay, North Barrier, we have approximately 2500 visitors per year. I think it would be pretty safe to say that we would be the biggest accommodation venue on the island . Yet the needs of the North continually go unheeded. Has anyone stopped to consider what it means for us to transport this number of people up and down the island when Okiwi is closed. Does anyone realise that we could be up and down the island as much as three trips a day on occasion. Let me give one example of this last week, for example, of the frustrations and inconvenience and cost of not having Okiwi airport open. Our generator needed urgent attention. We organised a part to be flown out on the 2pm flight, so someone had to take two hours out of their work time to drive to Claris to pick it up. Then we had a call from a visitor to say he would be coming in on the 4pm flight and could he be picked up from Claris. We managed to get hold of our driver to ask if he could stay down for an extra hour or so, to wait for the gentleman. He did so, but that meant our generator never got fixed that day. If he had bought the part back so it could be mended, we would have had to send another vehicle down to pick up the gentleman. Oh, and the gentleman had more than 15kg of luggage as he is staying for four months with us. So his excess was sent on yet another plane, necessitating yet another hour and a half round trip to pick it up. This is just one little scenario of one guest and one bit of freight. Multiply that by 2500 and you may get a little idea of what we are facing up here on the north. This type of scenario and dilemma confront us daily, so we are eagerly awaiting the opening of the Okiwi airfield this season. Lets hope there is a bit more competency in the maintenance of our valued airfield in the short term, and the sealing of the airport in the not so distant future. cheers Lynne Mitchener Orama |
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4th November Dear Mr Yates Living at the north end of Great Barrier Island has a transportation risk factor for community and business alike, all should flourish better with a reliable air service facility. The frustrations you write about deeply affect the people at the north end of Great Barrier Island, as you indicate in your letter. I have observed these frustrations simmer away, with intermittent bold request for future development plans, for many years. It is enormously difficult to run a business where there is insecure and nervous transportation from a close, but not so close, main centre like Auckland. It is a normal public expectation that public amenities will run seamlessly, with repairs and maintenance done at the seemingly obvious times and it is disappointing when this doesn’t happen, but is understandable given the huge responsibilities Auckland Council has towards public places. In the big picture the population percentage affected by management of Okiwi airfield is tiny, when the rates we pay are divided for the greater good. Fly My Sky has had no input into the Council repairs and maintenance program at Okiwi airport over winter periods. We say the airfield grass maintenance should be done in the spring, not winter, so growth will stabilize the surface properly and not be washed out by winter conditions. Northern residents probably might expect us to become more involved and give our push for long term development of the airfield. The reason we don’t do this is simply money. It costs more in every aspect to operate a plane from Auckland or Claris into Okiwi. We battle ever rising regulatory, airport, fuel, maintenance and training costs. It is our view Great Barrier Island, to develop well, needs to have an air service which is focused on providing world class services, but this goal has a cost. There is no future anywhere with a bare bones, nerve wracking, air service. Our fear is the cost of developing two airfields will be passed on to us, the direct user. Fly My Sky’s particular point of difference as a small airline is our ability to transport people from city to undeveloped country airfields. We work continuously on improving all aspects of this, so visitors arrive enjoying the whole experience. To grow sustainably together we need the best facilities we can reasonably achieve. We find flying into Okiwi, without a fare surcharge on top of the Auckland to Claris fare is a bottom line juggling act for us to manage. The present lack of this charge is both a competitive pressure and a social pressure about supporting community at the north end to have equal fares with the south. We are enjoying the new airfield facilities we use at Claris and think it is unfortunate that the position of Claris airfield is not close enough to the North end to have equal road travel times for both ends. It is our belief at the moment that neither rate income or population numbers could persuade or support the proposition to develop two airfields on Great Barrier Island. Fly My Sky’s long term challenge is to provide competitive, world class air services which enhance the economy and lives of those living and working on a our beautiful island. We will always value your support and feedback towards this goal. Robyn McKenzie, Director Fly My Sky |
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18th Nov 2011 Dear Editor, It is interesting to read different people’s perspective on Okiwi airfield and its importance to the North Barrier. There does seem to be a misconception that it is just locals who use the airfield. As a provider of information to visitors at the northern end of the island I am very aware of importance of the airfield to visitors, especially over the summer months. As Lynne from Orama highlighted, the difficulties of both time and cost to transport people from Claris is a big drain on the resources of tourism providers in the north and to the visitors themselves. We are all aware of the risk factors that are inherent with living on an island when transportation to/from the island is subject to the vagaries of weather and boggy airstrips but I question the randomness of the airfield being closed over the past couple of months. An example is when I flew out from Okiwi on the 31st of October. After my 12.30pm flight the airstrip was then closed. There had been no rain so the condition of the airfield hadn’t changed. I flew back to the island on the 3rd Nov and Okiwi was still closed. A friend was coming north and dropped me off to collect my car from Okiwi and we both walked the airfield which seemed dry and hard to us. It rained a little Thursday night but Friday morning the airfield was opened. This seems very puzzling (the polite adjective) to me. In response to Robyn’s comments; I don’t believe that the northern residents expect the airlines to wade into the battle to get Okiwi airstrip sealed. Neither are we unaware that there is a cost involved for the airlines to make two landings on their trips to Great Barrier. Please correct me if I’m wrong but the cost factor of providing maintenance on the airfields is not reliant on the Great Barrier Island rates income or population numbers because our infrastructure maintenance costs are from the wider pool of rates covering Auckland City. If this were not so we would have no sealed roads and no new airfield facilities at Claris for the benefit of the holiday home owners and all the visitors who come here. Over the past week or so both airlines have been flying into Okiwi and I hope this will continue over the summer months. However, the problem of the airfield being closed one day and open the next for no apparent reason is one that will continue until the strip is sealed. Kay Stowell, Port FitzRoy |
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18 Nov 2011 Dear Editor If the 2500 visitors Orama have each year were to travel through Okiwi airfield - ten minutes away - that’s 5000 seat bookings, a possible 96 seats booked weekly. Port Fitzroy, the biggest sheltered harbour on Great Barrier and in the Hauraki Gulf - also ten minutes from Okiwi - will always, every year attract thousands of boating visitors. Hundreds of boaties and friends and family fly in and out of Okiwi over the summer period because of the close proximity to the harbour, these numbers will only increase. Along with the local population and visitors using easier access to the DoC track network, A reliable sealed Okiwi would be a wonderful asset. It is ratepayers from the greater Auckland area that have provided the 2.5 million dollar air facility at Claris - nothing like this is required at Okiwi. Every morning the airfield is inspected, key areas checked and rainfall measured. The airfield is not left open if there has been significant rain. If someone decides the strip is too soft or too bumpy - when it is not - and complains to civil aviation, then it is closed, sometimes for days needlessly. Apart from the inconvenience and expense, mainly to the passenger, this leaves a very sour taste with visitors who will think twice about flying Barrier again. Not every flight need go through Okiwi, one a day could suffice outside holiday periods. Requests and submissions to council boards over many years to upgrade and recognize the importance of this 45 year old airfield have been ignored or referred to the most distant plan. It really is time someone at Auckland council took notice of the neglect and lost opportunities occurring in the north. The one project that would provide the most benefits to the economy and visitor industry would be to seal 850 metres of Okiwi airstrip, that’s all; a little holiday from road sealing will not affect visitor numbers. Mike Newman |
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Comment on Okiwi
Airfield status by Keith McKenzie - 30
November 2011 |
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4 Dec 2011 What is going on? Approximately three weeks after opening Okiwi airfield closed again due to the runway being unfit for commercial operations. this once again put us to an inconvenience as we were given no notice to arrange transport from Claris . Can some one of authority step forward and advise why we are having these continued problems .Has the maintenance budget been cut to the extent that this field can not be maintained ? Up until 5 years ago we never had to put up with the frequent closures and continued uncertainty that flying to the north end now entails Whilst we can accept weather closures for safety reasons we find closing the airfield in good conditions after only three weeks in operation requires an explanation.. Glenn Bracewell. |
From the Great Barrier Local Board Plan
Local Board Initiatives
Page 14
Provide our community with good transport links within and to/from the island.
The island will have a network of quality, sealed roads, plus three wharves and two airfields able to meet the needs of locals and visitors alike.
Draft Plan reads “Okiwi airfield in the north is an uneven grass strip that is often out of action due to poor weather (no mention of poor maintenance?). If Claris is closed by weather services rely on Okiwi(???) that in its current state can leave the island with no air services at times.
Amended Draft Plan reads “Claris, in the centre of the island, is our only all weather airport. Okiwi airfield in the north is an uneven grass strip that is often out of action due to poor weather. (again no mention of the state of the strip only the weather).
Page 15
Key project/initiative “Seal Okiwi airfield to make it an all-year round facility”
Remains the same in the Draft and Amended Plan
Local Board Role
“advocate” Est. Cost “$1.5milion”
Est Timing “1-3 years”
Summary Great Barrier Draft Plan
Our Priorities for the next three years and beyond.
“Our isolation is our strength but it can also be a challenge. We rely on ferry and air services to link us with the mainland. We need good quality, reliable and affordable transport infrastructure to ensure our people can move around more easily. Our key projects to achieve this include the sealing of all major roads and the runway at Okiwi airfield……….”
Summary of Feedback to the Draft Plan includes;
Should prioritise a fully functioning Okiwi Airfield
Okiwi Airfield should be sealed as a priority
Seal Okiwi airfield
Tarseal Okiwi Airfield
Okiwi airfield needs to be sealed to allow it to be used in the winter of which the community would greatly benefit.
Hauraki
Gulf Islands District Plan Review
“Issue
Transportation and accessibility are extremely important issues for Great
Barrier Island. The island is accessed by air and ferry services. The regular
car ferry takes approximately four hours and brings over the majority of
supplies, including fuel. There are two airfields on Great Barrier, at Okiwi and
Claris. Claris is the principal airfield and is currently being widened and
lengthened. Night flights are not permitted from either airfield.
Under the Auckland City District Plan, Okiwi Airfield is within Strategic Management Area 12 -Whangapoua and is zoned Land Unit 3 - Alluvial Flats. Under Land Unit 3, commercial airstrips are a listed discretionary activity. Claris Airfield is within SMA 6 - Kaitoke, Land Unit 2 - Dune Systems and Sand Flats and the Claris policy area. Under Land Unit 2, commercial airstrips are a listed discretionary activity. Neither airfield is designated under the District Plan.
The 'Gulf Island Transport Strategy', published by the Auckland City Council, sets out strategic directions for transport on Great Barrier Island. The strategy states that Claris Airfield is and will continue to be the main airfield for the island. However, the document recognises that Okiwi Airfield is a vital link to the northern part of the island and has some potential for growth, particularly from tourism. The Okiwi airstrip upgrade in 2001 has improved the serviceability of the airfield (yeah right!!!) and will allow its greater use, especially over the winter months, although the airfield is often closed during wet weather.
Currently there is no provision for Okiwi Airfield in the District Plan, although some initial work and consultation was undertaken on a plan change to provide for it. The Claris Airfield is provided for by the Claris policy area. However, commercial airfields are still listed discretionary activities within Land Unit 2.
Given the increasing importance of air travel to Great Barrier Island, consideration needs to be given to ensuring that both Claris and Okiwi airfields can operate effectively within the structure of the District Plan.
From
the Great Barrier Community Board minutes of 15 June 2007
NOTICE OF MOTION - ROAD SEALING VERSUS SEALING OF OKIWI AIRFIELD
After clarification by Cr Storer of processes relating to Council's annual plan, Board Member Downie withdrew his notice of motion. (Not sure what this motion was).
Moved: Downie/O'Shea
That the Transport and Urban Linkages Committee be advised that the Board supports the road seal program between Claris and Okiwi that is currently in place, but stresses the need for the sealing of the Okiwi airfield.
CARRIED
Numerous letters have been written to the Local Board and to the Barrier Bulletin about the issue of Okiwi Airfield being closed and the outcome was Keith McKenzie’s very clear picture of why the airlines are not flying into Okiwi. What has not yet been addressed is WHY the airfield is in such a poor condition and WHY when problems are reported does nothing get done about them. The sand on the airstrip being just one of these. A letter was written to the Local Board on 10th October 2011 about this issue, a couple of months before the Christmas/New Year holiday period and yet nothing was done and the airfield has been unusable for this summer period.