Eleventh Meeting - 19 September 1997

INDEX

List of attendees - 19 September 1997

SUMMARY RECORD

A list of meeting attendees is here.

ITEM 1

OPENING REMARKS

The meeting opened at 9.05am. The Chairman, Mr Joe Hockey MP, welcomed members to the meeting and in particular the new members, from Ashfield and Rockdale Councils. He noted the following apologies:

  • Mr Anthony Albanese MP, represented by Ms Verity Firth
  • Mrs Kerry Chikarovski MLA, represented by Mr Anthony Roberts
  • Cr Darel Hughes, represented by Cr Andrew Petrie
  • Cr Margaret Martin
  • Mr Robert McClelland MP, represented by Ms Lyn Hespe
  • Mr Stephen Mutch MP
  • Ms Sandra Nori MLA, represented by Ms Ros Habig
  • Cr Peter Olah, represented by Cr John Griffin
  • Cr Mary Rawlings (for part of meeting), represented by Ms Judith Ohana
  • Mr David Saul
  • Cr Kevin Schreiber

The Chairman noted the attendance for the commencement of the meeting and recommended members consider agreeing to bi-monthly meetings instead of monthly meetings. Some members were concerned that this gave less opportunity for members to express views on events. The meeting agreed the Chairman would write to members and advise that the next meeting would be in November instead of October and that the issue of meeting frequency would be included in the next agenda for discussion.

ITEM 2

ADOPTION OF AGENDA

Members adopted the provisional agenda and agreed to proceed in the order listed with the following items included under Item 9, Other Business:

  • 9A - Regrowth of seagrass at Botany Bay
  • 9B - Support for Minister to proceed with Badgerys Creek Airport

It was also agreed to add the matter of taxiway construction, listed under Item 4, to Item 5 as it related to the Long Term Operating Plan.

It was noted that the question of whether non-jet flight paths could in the future become jet flight paths would be covered under Item 5.

ITEM 3

CONFIRMATION OF SUMMARY RECORD OF THE NINTH AND TENTH MEETINGS AND ACTIONS ARISING

The Draft Summary Record of the ninth SACF meeting was accepted after some discussion on the proposed amendment to the wording under Item 4.

On the Draft Summary Record of the tenth SACF meeting, Mr John Clarke proposed an amendment, which was adopted, that on page 4, the last sentence of the second paragraph, under Item 5, should be deleted and replaced by "He also said that he could not understand the Minister's unwillingness to ensure consistency between the Long Term Operating Plan, slot management arrangements and the cap."

The Chairman advised he had talked to Tony Stuart, the General Manager of KSA, about the "Business Review Weekly" item which had been discussed at the tenth meeting. Mr Stuart had subsequently responded in a letter dated 10 September (which was tabled). The Chairman reported that Mr Stuart had requested the opportunity to address the next SACF meeting.

ITEMS 4 AND 5

MATTERS OUTSTANDING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS AND IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING COMMITTEE

The Chairman of the Implementation and Monitoring Committee, Mr Don Brown, began by explaining to the meeting that plans for the taxiway construction required for the Plan are being progressed between the FAC and Airservices so that the work has minimal impact on Airport operations.

David Lidbetter reported some concern that the FAC's taxiway program will take 15 months and requested this should be accelerated. He indicated that the presentations given to SACF and to IMC by the FAC were different and expressed the view that Stage 1 appeared to be inconsistent with the timing expected by the Minister.

Jeremy McGrath, FAC, when questioned, reported that $30 million of works have been approved for the taxiway program.

Mr Brown said that the taxiway works could only be done during the curfew hours, starting at 11pm and finishing at 5am, which makes the work difficult to accelerate.

The Chairman undertook to meet Tony Stuart with some other SACF members to explore methods which may help to expedite the construction of the taxiways.

SACF members expressed a need to obtain a firm agreement on the timing of the 16L threshold relocation and asked if the IMC was responsible. The Chairman undertook to resolve the matter by taking it up with the Minister's office.

ITEM 9B

SUPPORT FOR MINISTER TO PROCEED WITH BADGERYS CREEK AIRPORT

The Chairman interrupted discussion under Item 5 in order to enable timely discussion of a resolution which had been foreshadowed by Mr Paul Zammit.

Mr Zammit, in proposing a motion for consideration, outlined a number of reasons why a second Sydney airport is urgently needed. Separate motions were foreshadowed on the same matter.

Mr Zammit and other members spoke of the consequences which might follow if a second airport were not built and KSA activity allowed to expand. Possible outcomes raised included pressure to remove the cap, the squeezing out of regional aircraft resulting in more jets, the construction of a fourth runway and the second airport simply becoming an "overflow" airport.

In addition members referred to the enormous benefits to be gained from the employment of 63,000 people in the western Sydney area.

A motion was proposed by Mr Zammit. After discussion the following resolution on the second Sydney airport received unanimous support:

SACF strongly endorses the construction with urgency of a major, 24-hour international airport at Badgerys Creek. It notes the Minister's comments that there is nothing in the draft EIS that will preclude the airport proceeding and requests urgency in going ahead with the new airport as soon as possible.

Cr Mark Bonanno, the Mayor of Ashfield, attended the meeting briefly but wished to record his support for the Badgerys Creek motion before leaving.

Later in the meeting the following additional resolution concerning the second Sydney airport was proposed by Mr Zammit and seconded by Mr Refshauge:

SACF notes the comments of some senior members of the NSW Government who have expressed concern about the EIS for Badgerys Creek and seeks the full support of the NSW and Commonwealth Governments for the construction of a major 24-hour international airport at Badgerys Creek subject to a satisfactory environmental assessment.

The resolution was carried unanimously.

ITEMS 4 AND 5

(Resumed Discussion) MATTERS OUTSTANDING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS AND IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING COMMITTEE

Mr Lidbetter reported on the two recent IMC meetings and one sub-committee meeting which had taken place to consider noise abatement issues. He briefly outlined developments on the following matters which had been discussed at IMC meetings:

  • flight paths for implementation on 4 December 1997
  • on-going assessment of how Airservices will report monitoring information to the community
  • respite (DTRD is undertaking an analysis to estimate hours of respite)
  • height above Coogee for 34R departures
  • turn after 34L departure to maintain separation
  • spreading of flight paths
  • ICAO A and B departures.

There was discussion of progress on the ICAO 'A' and 'B' issue. It was noted that this remained a complex matter but that the IMC was likely to have reached a view by the end of 1997.

Mr Lidbetter requested it be put on record that 4 December 1997 should be regarded as the beginning, not the end, of implementation and there needs to be much more work on the refinement of flight paths.

Mr Brown advised that IMC is being productive. Discussions have taken place with the military to gain agreement on airspace issues. He further advised that from December 4 Airservices will take over the management of the Richmond military airspace. He outlined a number of Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) and radar departures under development which are all consistent with the Proponent's Statement.

Following questions about the timing of the introduction of the "trident", Mr Brown advised that the requirement to join final by 10 nautical miles would be removed on 4 December. This would constitute a step towards the trident. He was unable to give a commitment on the timing of the introduction of the trident proper.

The Chairman proposed a brochure be produced in order to advise the community of the flight path changes to be brought in on 4 December. He indicated the brochure will need to be produced before the 28 November 1997 SACF meeting and distributed to all members, councils and libraries.

Ms Patrinos questioned the IMC Chairman about non-jet flight paths, saying that she had asked for assurance for the future that non-jet flight paths will not become jet paths. Mr Brown responded that although there was no intention of changing non-jet flight paths to jet flight paths, Airservices cannot give an absolute guarantee for the future. He stressed that Airservices is implementing what is in the Proponent's Statement but, if, as a result of safety refinements, changes to some flight paths became necessary, there would potentially be a flow-on effect to other flight paths.

DTRD explained that the Minister has released a summary of the Draft EIS on Holsworthy and Badgerys Creek. The Draft EIS for the Badgerys Creek site will be released later in the year. There will be a period of public comment before a final EIS is prepared.

The Chairman outlined the timing of the consultation and EIS process.

ITEM 6

RESHEET OF RUNWAY

The Chairman informed the meeting that FAC proposed resheeting the middle section of the main north-south runway. He said that prior to resheet work on the main north-south runway taking place last summer, the FAC did a letter-box drop to residents in the area closest to the Airport. He envisaged that FAC would consider advising residents this time in the same way if the program proceeds.

Mr Jeremy McGrath of FAC distributed a paper titled "Resheeting of the Main North-South (16R/34L) Runway at Sydney Airport during the Curfew" which outlined the most feasible options for curfew dispensations during the proposed resheet program. The Chairman emphasised the need for early reaction to the options in this paper given that decisions would need to be made before the next scheduled SACF meeting in November.

There was comment that any options which involved aircraft landing directly over Kurnell would be a matter of considerable significance to the local community.

Members raised no opposition to adopting the same curfew procedures that were used during the 1996/97 summer resheet program.

ITEM 7

MONITORING REPORTS

The monitoring reports distributed to members were noted by the Forum. Members requested that in future information on expenditure and moneys raised be included in the Sydney Airport Noise Amelioration Program Progress Report. The meeting was assured that if meetings were to be held bi-monthly, the monitoring reports would still be circulated to members on an "as available" basis.

Mr Refshauge indicated to the meeting that Marrickville Council was finalising plans for the redevelopment of the Sydenham demolition area which will be for community use with 2 houses being retained for an artists' group and a youth group.

ITEM 8

SACF CORRESPONDENCE

Correspondence was noted by the meeting.

Mr John Clarke advised that Ms Valerie Bray had provided the SACF Chairman with a copy of her response to the Sydney Airport Joint Study of Aircraft Noise, February-March 1996. He asked that this be distributed to SACF members and Airservices and asked that Airservices respond to the paper at the next meeting The Chairman undertook to have copies of Ms Bray's paper distributed and the report included in the next SACF agenda for discussion.

In relation to Senator Hill's letter of 29 August 1997 to the General Manager of Sydney Airport about the Sydney Airport International Terminal (Olympic Upgrading Project), Ms Judith Ohana said that she wished her disappointment be recorded that Environment Australia finalised its advice to its Minister without consulting SACF. The Chairman undertook to write to the Minister for the Environment, noting disappointment that SACF was not consulted.

In response to a request from Judith Ohana, the FAC undertook to provide one copy of the Sydney Airport Environmental Management System at the next meeting to be available for viewing by SACF members and also to provide a paper to the meeting on FAC's compliance with Senator Hill's recommendations.

ITEM 9

OTHER BUSINESS

Members raised the issue of the freecall number which Airservices was reinstalling for the Noise Enquiry Unit. Airservices advised that the previous 1800 number (1800 802 584) would be reinstalled within the week.

9A. Mr Kevin Hill drew the meeting's attention to the question of the regrowth of sea-grass in Botany Bay following the building of the third runway. He asked the FAC how the sea-grasses in Botany Bay could be regenerated. The FAC undertook to give a report on restoration of the Bay, including sediment control, to the next SACF meeting.

9B. The meeting agreed that the matter of Badgerys Creek had been adequately discussed earlier.

ITEM 10

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Members agreed to the date of the twelfth SACF meeting which is to be Friday, 28 November 1997.