First up, I am against airport expansions in general because I believe we all need to reduce flying in order to reduce our personal carbon emissions. Hence I would much rather see infrastructure funding spend on a reliable, fast rail network, active transport linkages and other public transport facilities.
Of course I feel for people affected by the lack of information about the airport expansion and the anxieties surrounding it.
However I believe he current flight path saga as it developed just makes us look like bad neighbours and NIMBYs with amnesia.
Tony Wellington was on the Sunshine Coast Council representing Noosa Shire, and held the environment portfolio, when the then amalgamated Council first discussed the airport expansion. He was also on the Playford-led Noosa Council after de-amalgamation.
If indeed the impacts of the new flightpath are as concerning as we are now made to believe, why did he and then mayor Playford not make sure all the information kiosks in Noosa Council and libraries were properly promoted during the consultation period – not just through a couple of mini press releases?
Or if the impacts are not severe, why does he not now show integrity and leadership and alleviate people’s worries?
In any event, he should stand by his ‘fly-in, high-yield’ visitors strategy and explain that flights over our heads are the price to pay for this.
But then of course we are also struggling to square our desire for high-value visitors arriving by plane with our commitment to become a Zero Emissions Shire by 2026. Tourism Noosa again this winter ran the winterwarmer campaign to attract visitors which are clearly coming into Sunshine Coast Airport.
I am also concerned that our standing in the wider Sunshine Coast community is being damaged by mayor Wellington. This is an excerpt from the latest Sunshine Coast Council press release after the most recent flight path round table:
“I can only assume that Cr Wellington’s comments about “lengthy and unnecessary presentations by council and Airservices Australia” weren’t to his liking because they comprehensively demonstrated the processes both organisations have followed and expose the Noosa Shire Council’s complete failure to represent the interests of their community during the consultation on the EIS in 2014 and 2015.
“When someone questions the need for the facts, then you seriously have to question their motives.
“Cr Wellington is clearly uncomfortable that his predecessor, Noel Playford, wrote to Sunshine Coast Council in November 2015 and advised that Noosa Council would not be making submissions on the EIS or the AEIS.
“Noosa Shire Council made a decision in 2014 and 2015 not to get involved in the EIS process but did state in Mr Playford’s letter, ‘we are encouraging our community to have their say on the proposal before 30 November 2015’ and further in Mr Playford’s letter, ‘We are currently promoting the issue in our community via our usual media channels and encouraging our community to have their say on the proposed airport expansion’.
“I wonder what effort was really made to promote this to the Noosa community by their Council, when Cr Wellington is on record as saying the airport expansion project was just a “hypothetical”.
“Now – nine months out from council elections – Cr Wellington wants to opt in and appear to be the champion for his community’s interests.
“I think most people would see the full picture, not just the recent protestations.
“Cr Wellington has expressed his local knowledge of Noosa with his comments about, “the churn of residents” in his Shire. Knowing full well about this churn, why not put this local knowledge to good use and provide ongoing information to residents about the airport project, rather than now wanting to blame others.
“I make the point again that the proposed flight paths were published in the EIS, and have been available for everyone to consider since 2014. The proposal informed the current flight paths designed by Airservices Australia and have been in the public domain for nearly five years.
“So far, no alternative solutions by either the Flight Path Forum or Noosa Shire Council have been shared with the general public.”
This flight path debacle looks to me like another bloom of a certain toxic part of Noosa culture we can really do without.
And it is toxic because for the benefit of the environment and all creatures in it we need to work with our neighbours, the larger Sunshine Coast community, on a sustainable transport solutions and other infrastructure projects. For this we need respect and integrity.
Just a few points to note:
1. The airport decision was made before the new council here re-formed. Whoever was on whatever committee is pretty irrelevant now, and the situation is long out of Noosa Council’s hands. The new runway is being built as we speak.
2. The north-western end of the new runway is 10km from Noosa’s southern boundary.
3. Obviously, therefore, flights paths were always going to be over the Shire. Why we’ve just noticed this is a good question. Perhaps people didn’t attend the information sessions or put in submissions. Certainly they were publicised.
4. Publishing a SCRC media release on this topic here gives them a free kick, but their spin should not be confused with the truth.
Right now there are residents from Noosa working with ASA to create fairer flight paths, and I believe a solution will be found. I agree, we are encouraging people to fly here to support an economy which is too heavily dependent on the tourist dollar. I wish this were not the case and the sooner we wake up to the direction we are heading, the better.
Hi Rod, thanks for your comment. Yes, the decision was made before de-amalgamation when Tony Wellington was on the Sunshine Coast Council. Why did we just notice? I do believe as stated in my post, that Noosa Council should have been more active in raising awareness when the consultation was in full swing. After all they were hosting the information kiosks and needed to make sure their population are informed about impacts.
We are a small council with limited resources. So at that critical ‘post separation’ time maybe instead of putting much council resources into dismantling the NBL when there was simply no need for it was a bad move? Also worth considering is that the NBL could have helped digesting and disseminating the information. Spending much Council resources in setting up the Foundation and securing funds and permits for NPA projects might have been strategically a mistake? Many people had concerns of this being a waste of public funds and resources at the time and it is worth bringing up, because it does not look like a lot of learning has been done. If there was I’d shut up about it. The ‘them’ versus ‘us’ culture is entirely counterproductive and needs to stop. We need to work with Sunshine Coast Council to achieve good outcomes for us ‘people on the ground’.