Taupo¯ to keep rescue helicopter

Frequent search and rescue operations are the reason Taupo¯ will keep its rescue helicopter base.

Rotorua will lose its base under a new plan for air ambulance services, though the current trust operating from it will continue.

Health Minister Dr David Clark announced a second in-principle agreement for air ambulance services yesterday.

This agreement is for the North Island, south of Auckland, and Clark described it as ‘‘a key part of an improved national service’’.

The Ministry of Health and ACC are in the final stages of agreeing to a four-year contract with an agency combining a number of trusts already operating in the central region.

Proposals to scrap bases in Rotorua and Taupo¯ – and cover the area with helicopters from neighbouring centres – got people concerned, according to a statement from Clark.

The minister said they had listened to feedback and a base would keep operating from Taupo¯ .

‘‘Taupo¯ ’s high volume of search and rescue operations means it makes good sense to have a shared emergency response approach at this base,’’ he said.

Taupo¯ Mayor David Trewavas said the decision was great news for all those who had rallied to the cause, to keep a base in the central North Island.

‘‘Extreme common sense came through in the end. It is a vital service for us and we need it.’’

Trewavas had commissioned some big names to rally behind the cause, including former Kiwi supermodel Rachael Hunter, who helped out with a promotional video, and former prime minister Helen Clark, who is a keen tramper.

He also paid tribute to the organiser of a protest march in Taupo¯ – Jan-Marie Quinn. The march attracted well over 1000 people, who took to the streets in rainy weather to show their support for the retention of the Taupo¯ base.

The Rotorua base will not be part of the new contract.