Other people’s money

It was probably of case of when, rather than if, Jetstar would stop flying into New Plymouth. It took less than four years for the Australian-owned airline to pull out, with the provincial services scrapped on November 30.

Just two months later, the new $28.7m New Plymouth Airport is scheduled to open and sadly Jetstar’s loss will not help its ability to service the large debt. For the record, I voted against the grandiose project at every opportunity, making the point that it was a regional airport and we simply didn’t need to spend that much money. That would be similar to spending $50m on ‘‘repairs’’ to a sports stadium. I have consistently challenged the airport company chairman, Phillip Cory-Wright, and chief executive, Wayne Wooton, on what would happen if Jetstar did leave, which was eminently predictable.

They constantly stated the business case was robust and all would be fine.

We shall see, but it’s hard not to see the longsuffering New Plymouth community being forced to dip into their pockets again. With a majority of my council colleagues voting to introduce a living wage last Tuesday night, (I did not) it reinforces the notion that it is easy to be generous with other people’s money.

Gordon Brown, New Plymouth District Councillor