Tuesday,30 April 2024


Adjournment

Lethbridge Airport


Lethbridge Airport

I recently spoke to a crowd of hundreds of residents who had assembled at Lethbridge Airport to protest against the inappropriate placement of this development. In particular, I heard great concern about the impact it will have on the aviation activities and businesses operating at the airport, which will be halfway encircled by the proposed towers. This is a serious regional airport, equipped with airfield lights for night flying, and it has been the recipient of substantial government funding in the past. It is not a dirt strip in the bush but a serious aviation hub and regional economic asset.

The Tall Tree Wind Farm would have significant effects on take-offs and landings at the airport, which is regularly used by emergency services, especially during the bushfire season. CFA and police aircraft will face increased flight times and in some circumstances may not be able to operate at all. Aviation businesses like the flight school are threatened, and other businesses on the site will face significant problems. Agricultural aviation services will suffer, as will the Hangarage business, maintenance facilities, avionics specialists and aircraft dealers. There is no realistic local alternative, so the communities involved want common sense to triumph. You cannot relocate the airport to suit the wind farm development, so it must be the other way around. The action I seek, Minister, is for you to commission a consultation with all the affected parties at the airport to consider the economic impact of the proposed development on the airport and surrounding businesses and to ensure that this important regional asset is not downgraded or even rendered inoperable by an inappropriately sited wind farm proposal.