Tuesday, 30 April 2024

Lethbridge Airport

Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (19:15): (850) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Regional Development and concerns Lethbridge Airport, Geelong’s regional airport, and the threat posed to it by the planned Tall Tree Wind Farm project. The scheme for that development includes the construction of 60 wind turbines up to 271 metres high. That is just 30 metres shorter than the Melbourne Skydeck. If built, they will be the tallest onshore turbines in Australia. The immense scale concerns local residents, as does the proximity to homes in a developed area, with a substantial number of small holdings and lifestyle properties. Populations in Meredith, Inverleigh, Teesdale, Lethbridge and Bannockburn will be impacted. The concern has been heightened by this Labor government’s fast-tracking of amendment VC261 for renewables projects and the shocking removal of communities’ rights to appeal permit decisions to VCAT.

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.