F16 fighter jets from Singapore spent four weeks at Ōhakea airbase in September 2017. There was optimism at the time about what might result from this.

A proposal to base Singapore jets at Ōhakea has been rejected because of infrastructure problems at the airbase.

Minister of Defence Ron Mark said both sides concluded the proposal could not proceed, as without significant spending Ōhakea could not host the F15 squadron.

Mark said the concept had received strong support from local and central government and he was disappointed at the outcome.

"I took a hard look at official advice on multiple aspects of the proposal throughout the year."

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Mark said locating the jets there on a long-term basis would have put significant strain on the capacity of the airfield and the airspace above it.

"Singapore also concluded that cost parameters were a factor."

In February last year, the New Zealand Defence Force confirmed officials were in talks to set up a pilots' training base at Ōhakea.

F16 fighter jets came to Ōhakea in September 2017 and officials were optimistic at that stage about the potential for further progress. But providing an F15 base longer term proved problematic.

Mark suggested New Zealand may yet host fighter aircraft for shorter periods, however.

"I have asked officials to explore options with Singapore for future aircraft detachments to visit ..."

MURRAY WILSON/STUFF F16 fighter jet pilots from Singapore spent four weeks training at Ōhakea air force base last year to see how a proposal to base themselves there might work.

Mark said lack of investment and planning by successive Governments had not helped.

"Closing Wigram and Hobsonville, and increasing urbanisation around Whenuapai, means we are more constrained in our ability to operate additional aircraft types. Over the long term, this may impact on the operations and choices of the Defence Force, and future Governments.

"These constraining factors will inform future work on the defence estate."

Manawatū District mayor Helen Worboys was disappointed by the news and said people had put a lot of work into trying to make the proposal feasible.

She hoped the Government would look at putting more resources into the base.

Getting P8A planes based in Manawatū was a silver lining from the situation and she suggested the base could be expanded.

Due to the water contamination around Ōhakea, Worboys said there was the opportunity for the Government to buy farms from affected farmers and expand the base out on to them.