The Federal Government planned to use Bankstown Airport as an overflow and VIP airport during the year 2000 Olympics. Runway extensions commenced in 1996, and futher work began in June 1998 under the guise of improving drainage. Airlines are doing market surveys of passengers (July 1998), and aviation trade journals are proclaiming that extensions are about to be made (Aircraft & Aerospace - Asia Pacific, March 1998, p47).
True to Federal Airports Corporation form, there was not one whit of consultation with the local community or council prior to work commencement. Needless to say, there are no plans to implement a curfew, nor any caps such as now apply at Sydney's International Kingsford Smith Airport.
Is the lack of cap fair ? No Maybe Not I don't know Maybe Yes
In parallel with this, the Federal Government escalated plans to sell the airport by corporatisation of the Federal Airports Corporation. From July 2nd, 1998, Bankstown Airport was managed by Bankstown Airport Ltd.,. a subsidiary company of Sydney Airports Ltd - the managing company for Kingsford Smith Airport.
Ministerial responsibility also transferred from the Minister for Transport, Mark Vaile, to Minister for Finance and member for the Badgerys Creek area (see map), John Fahey.
As it becomes increasingly obvious that few Sydneysiders will actually get seats at Games events, it is worth questioning why we should accept the additional noise and pollution this will rain down upon us.
Quotes from Bankstown Airport senior managers (who have been appointed to roles in Bankstown Airport Ltd) suggests how little concern there is for residents (see quote below). Together with the public statements by the Minister for Finance (Mr Fahey) to dump on Bankstown (see below and earlier outbursts), these represent cause for serious alarm in the Bankstown area.
It has been suggested the Olympic role will be limited to Lear jets and other small aircraft similar to those already using Bankstown. Lear jets, however, are very infrequent visitors to Bankstown (most of the hoi-polloi preferring the convenience of the near-city KSA location)
Do you think the extra runways and terminal facilities etc.,. will get used after the Olympics ? Yes Maybe No Maybe Not I don't know
We are yet to hear how this will be done without endangering the lives of residents of Bankstown and surrounding suburbs. Airport managers can no longer trot out the line that "planes don't fall out of the sky" - as we've seen at Hoxton Parkin June 1998, they do.
While airport managers have suggested that the training schools may not be able to operate during the Olympics, they are inviting hordes of part-time pilots and others unfamiliar with Bankstown into what will be the busiest airspace in the world.
Will residents be safe ? No Maybe Not I don't know Maybe Yes Will we have an air disaster of Olympic proportions in Bankstown ? Yes Maybe No Maybe Not I don't know
The recent closure of Ray's Golf driving range (click for map of airport (12K)) and survey pegs indicating a 200 meter extension to the main runway are indicative of grander plans than merely accommodating Bankstown's traditional aviation role.
Airport workers report that plans are to extend the runway by 200 meters at each end. A new terminal building and customs facilities are also planned, and considerable additional paved parking capacity.
These developments are hardly indicative of continuing a traditional role. Even with just 200 meters extra, Bankstown's main runway would be the same length as Maroochydore (Queensland) - which supports regular services by 737's and 767's. Guess which planes make up the bulk (i.e. > 60 % ) of traffic at KSA ?
With an extra 400 meters and up scaled terminal buildings, Bankstown's longest runway would be capable of taking 737's, 767's, short-haul 747's and other large commercial jets.
For more warning signals, see GPS Instrument Test at Bankstown.
Is the hidden agenda to bring in loads of large & noisy commercial jets for the Olympics and to turn around and say "Well, nobody was affected, so we can keep doing it ?". While Bankstown's main runway is too short for the largest long-haul 747's, it isn't too short for most of the interstate and other commercial jets.
Are the FAC bureaucrats hoping that if they can't get community approval of an EIS for a second airport, they'll just sneak-up incremental expansions to existing airports until they've got the same result ? Yes Maybe No Maybe Not I don't know Is John Fahey ?
The people of Bankstown could end up with 737's, 767's and maybe even 747's just over their rooftops - all hours of the night and day.
Claims that they are merely implementing works according to a 1982 master plan are not good enough. That was 15 years ago, and there was no public consultation or EIS entailed in its preparation.
Introducing scheduled airline services, regional airlines, international or large commercial jets is a vast change that must be subject to proper EIS processes.
Residents and Bankstown Councillor Ian Stromberg have criticized the lack of community consultation at Bankstown Airport after reports of possible expansion.
A Milperra resident who asked not to be named has collected 200 signatures from people opposed to planned increases in traffic during the Olympics and general increases in aircraft frequency.
The resident also surveyed 150 Milperra residents and found 117 felt they had been already affected by increased air movements.
She said 75 people were opposed to increased air movements during the Olympics and all opposed any permanent change.
"There is not enough community consultation at the airport and there is no way the people can find out what is going on", she said.
After the Express reported last week that the Federal Airports Corporation (FAC) would not extend the lease on Ray"s Golf Driving Range, Milperra, residents have complained there concerns were being ignored.
Malu Menke, from Georges Hall, said residents had heard rumours the airport was being expanded.
"We do not know what is going on, but I think the closure of the driving range must have something to do with it", she said.
Councillor Ian Stromborg said the FAC had set up a consultative committee but it met infrequently and did not represent the people.
He said the FAC "had a lot to answer for in the community… but the local community is getting no information at all"
"It’s a joke," he said, "They just do what they like".
But at Bankstown Airport, general manager xxxxxx xxxx said residents concerns were "absolute garbage".
He said the 1982 Master Plan for the airport indicated a taxi loop would eventually be built but he had no approval or funds for the upgrade.
A senior council officer said the same master plan specified the runways could be extended by 200m.
Mr. xxxx would neither confirm nor deny whether the runways would eventually be extended.
He said the proprietors at Ray's Golf Driving Range had known for 10 years that the FAC might not renew their lease and it was up to the Federal Government to make decisions about upgrading or expanding the airport.
Mr. xxxx said the FAC planned to build a drain in the driving range to prevent flooding at the airport.
Overflow traffic from Sydney Airport could be sent to Bankstown instead of a second airport at Badgerys Creek, Finance Minister John Fahey has said.
Mr Fahey has suggested the latest airport Environmental Impact Statement should consider increasing efficiency at Bankstown and Sydney rather than building a second airport.
In a letter to residents of his Macarthur electorate, Mr Fahey wrote: "If regional and other smaller flights such as these can be diverted to another airport, perhaps Bankstown, it may be that a second airport is not required for decades to come. It’s a possibility that would require detailed investigation.
Blaxland MP Michael Hutton initially dismissed the proposal as a "stunt" to appease Mr Fahey’s electorate, but later said: "John Fahey either means that Bankstown should get all the state’s regional aircraft, or that it should be the site of Sydney’s second international airport".
"Both propositions are ludicrous, as it would shatter the lives of 500,000 people"
A spokesman for Mr Hatton said Badgerys Creek was "electorally unpalatable" for Mr Fahey because he represented the semi-rural electorate of Macarthur, which is near Badgerys Creek.
"Essentially, it is a sugar-coated poison pill for John Fahey," the spokesman said.
Mr Hatton said Mr Fahey had not put the idea to Cabinet and he was "trying to weasel his way out of [the airport issue] until after the next election".
A spokesman for Mr Fahey said past studies had not considered the no-airport option at Badgerys Creek, which would include considering how Bankstown and Sydney Airport could be used more efficiently.
Mr Fahey stated in a newsletter titled Airport News that he had "major reservations about the adverse effects" of a second airport at Badgerys Creek.
On the issue of making Badgerys Creek an overflow airport, he wrote: "I would need to be satisfied that for Option A [Badgerys Creek] to proceed as an overflow airport for Kingsford Smith Airport, the existing airport at Bankstown could not instead perform a similar function".
But Mr Hatton said Bankstown was already the busiest general aviation airport in the southern hemisphere with more than 400,000 movements a year, and residents would oppose any expansion.
"The Labor Party has always supported the existing operations at the airport, but has ruled out any expansion or change of function," Mr Hatton said
Badgerys Creek is within Mr Fahey’s Macarthur electorate – currently the site’s Northern border is on the northern boundary of Macarthur (see map). Is this clear self-interest speaking ?
Let's hope that local member Michael Hatton's initial dismissal of the proposal as a stunt does not mean he is treating the idea too lightly. Stunt or not, the only sensible way to deal with Fahey's suggestion is to cut it down before it grows too big. Mr Hatton's party platform is a worry (click here for ALP Policy)
Mr xxxx’s attitude to residents concerns is a clear worry. Some FAC bureaucrats haven't grown out of the 1950’s "we know best what they want" approach to engineering and public works. Perhaps the only thing that is garbage that should be thrown out is this attitude to the community.
Ray's Golf Driving Range was a thriving business which had been on its site for around 45 years (i.e. since end of World War II) and before general aviation started at Bankstown. To suggest it's owners and patrons should have realized they were living on borrowed time is ridiculous.
To see an update on the so-called "drainage" works, see the Master Plan page. In later evidence to the state legislative inquiry, BAL described the master plan as "draft". This probably means it was never approved by the relevant Minister (a step which now requires public exhibition and EIS processes).
The 400,000 movements a year mentioned above is supported by Airservices Australia's flight movements statistics for 1997 (406,000). In 1996, movements at Bankstown were just 360,000.
The Second Sydney Airport Draft EIS gives Bankstown's capacity as being 450,000 movements. This figure which was achieved in 1989/90 pilots' dispute, which clearly diverted traffic from KSA to Bankstown.
The 1990 ANEF chart for Bankstown Airport used a forecast maximum movements of 460,000. This may have been based on the 1982 Master Plan, which showed three 11/29 runways of 1570 m length, and three runways in the 18/36 direction. The shorter length of the 11/29 runways, and lack of two in the 18/36 direction is likely to have a dramatic effect on the capacity - it would be fair to wonder if the prudent capacity is less than 400,000.
Based on the 10% growth from 1996 to 1997, it is clear that Bankstown airport will be right on the limit of its capacity sometime in 1998 - if it is not already over it.
According to the Second Sydney Airport Draft EIS, general aviation (within the Sydney Basin) has declined at 2.7% pa since 1989/90 (see section 5.6), mainly in private flying and training activities. General aviation movements at KSA are just 24,000 per annum (about 9% of its movements). This is so low because high charges are already diverting them to Bankstown. This is causing Bankstown's work-load to increase in spite of the overall decline for the Sydney Basin.
Shifting KSA's remaining general aviation load to Bankstown is feasible if you ignore community attitudinal changes since 1989 – but it won’t achieve much in relation to providing the extra 350,000 movements forecast for the Second Airport.
Regional airlines make up another 39% of KSA movements – around 104,000 movements per annum (they are not included in the general aviation count). The regional air traffic simply won’t fit within Bankstown’s capacity or character. Moreover, it doesn’t get you even one third the way to providing the capacity needed at the Second Airport, nor any of the growth predicted for KSA.
John Fahey's suggestion (SMH 25/03/98) that Bankstown Airport might be a suitable alternative to the Second Airport proposed for his electorate is grossly unfair.
Has self-interest blinded him to the fact that the Second Sydney Airport Draft EIS clearly rejects the Bankstown option ? In spite of its many inadequacies, the EIS still manages to find seven reasons for rejecting Bankstown (see Section 6.5.4).
Not the least of these are the environmental impacts on a densely populated community and Sydney's sickest river (The Georges R).
Bankstown's 400,000 aircraft movements per year already dumps more than a fair share of airport pollution on the 50,000 families in Bankstown.That's more than enough.
If Mr Fahey had any sense of fairness, he would be happy for Badgerys Creek Airport to take its share by undertaking any role he might prescribe for Bankstown. Can he take his own medicine ?
If not, why won't he recognize that airport expansion is incompatible with urban areas ? This is the common message from the KSA problems, and Sydney-wide opposition to the Second Airport proposals.
Let's find a better solution than Mr Fahey's NIMBY prescriptions for areas more populated than his electorate. Find somewhere less populated, Mr Fahey !
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