Sixth Meeting - 17 February 1997

INDEX

List of attendees - 17 February 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 and noted apologies from:

  • Cr B Cotter, represented by Mr M Refshauge
  • Mr S Mutch MP
  • Ms S Nori MLA, represented by Ms Ros Habig
  • Cr P Olah
  • Cr M Rawlings, represented by Ms Marie McGoldrick
  • Cr K Schreiber
  • Cr R Sheerin, represented by Mr Bob Hayes.

ITEM 2

ADOPTION OF AGENDA

The meeting agreed to a request by Mr David Lidbetter that discussion of the proposal to move the 16L threshold to the north be included in the agenda as Item 3A. Apart from that, members adopted the provisional agenda and agreed to proceed in the order listed.

ITEM 3

ADDRESS BY THE HON BRUCE BAIRD

The Hon Bruce Baird, Managing Director of the Tourism Council of Australia, addressed the meeting on the importance of tourism and particularly of Sydney Airport to the economy of Australia and the Sydney Region. He stressed the need for a second Sydney international airport because of growth in passenger demand.

Following the address, Mr Baird answered questions from members of the Forum. (Issues discussed were: capacity of Kingsford Smith Airport (KSA); air pollution; feasibility of an offshore airport; the impact of the Olympics; feasibility of a fast train link to a more distant second airport; cost to the community in terms of lifestyle/health/house-prices; implications of a possible tax on tourism; congestion at KSA, options for the Second Sydney Airport, impact on Kurnell; other airports as first-port-of-call; replacement of props by jets at KSA; forecasts of passenger numbers; safety; use of KSA by regional airlines.)

The Chairman thanked Mr Baird for his address. Mr Baird suggested that a SACF member address the Tourism Council on issues of particular concern to the Forum.

Following Mr Baird's talk, the Chairman asked the FAC to provide airline passenger statistics for Sydney broken down by business/ tourism. In addition, he asked if the FAC could also provide information on residential distribution of people who work at the Airport, for the Friday 21 February 1997 meeting.

The Chairman also suggested that airlines be invited to address a future SACF meeting.

ITEM 3A

FAC LETTER ON RELOCATION OF THE THRESHOLD OF RUNWAY 16L

Mr Lidbetter raised the issue of the FAC's letter on relocation of the threshold of runway 16L, dated 6 November 1996, which was circulated to members with the agenda for the sixth meeting. Members expressed a number of substantial concerns about the basis on which the decision had been taken by the Corporation, the Corporation's disregard of concerns expressed earlier by both SACF members and the former Sydney Airport Community Consultative Committee (SACCC) and the delayed circulation by the Department of a letter from the Corporation to the Chairman formally notifying the decision to proceed with the project.

The following proposals were adopted by the Forum:

  1. SACF requests the Minister to direct the FAC to immediately stop all works currently underway to move the 16L threshold to the north and to further direct that FAC enter discussions and consultation with the SACF and affected communities prior to further considering this project.
  2. SACF requests the Minister to seek an explanation from FAC as to why it chose to ignore the request from SACF at their briefing meeting 9.8.96 to defer any further consideration of this matter and decided to proceed, particularly when the utilisation of runway 16L is reaching levels proposed under the third runway EIS.
  3. SACF requests the Minister to conduct an inquiry to determine whether the contents of FAC letter dated 6.11.96 were deliberately withheld from SACF members until February 1997.
  4. SACF condemns the behaviour of the FAC in attempting to mislead members of SACF when they informed members that the relocation of 16L threshold was an initiative requested by the community body SACCC when in fact SACCC did not agree to the project proceeding.
  5. SACF calls on the FAC to openly and honestly declare its motives and objectives in pursuing the relocation.
  6. Further, SACF requests from the FAC a list of current "works in progress" and any future plans under consideration of any capital works.

The Chairman agreed to transmit the resolutions to the Minister and proposed the issue be raised on Friday 21 February 1997 following the FAC's briefing on the Olympics.

During discussion the issue of SACF's role and responsibilities and its relationship to government agencies such as the FAC was raised.

ITEM 4

SUMMARY RECORD AND ACTIONS ARISING

The Draft Summary Record of the Fifth SACF meeting held at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices, Phillip Street, Sydney, on Friday, 22 November 1996, was accepted without amendment. Actions and correspondence arising from the fifth meeting were noted.

ITEM 5

MATTERS OUTSTANDING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS

Mr Refshauge expressed disappointment at the Minister's response to the proposal that the Commonwealth cease a claim for legal costs against the Marrickville Council.

The Chairman agreed to convey to the Minister the proposal:

"That SACF approach the Minister seeking that each party in the 1994 airport case over interim operations bear its own costs having regard to the faulty environmental assessment undertaken by the Civil Aviation Authority and the public interest associated with the case."

The Chairman also agreed to write to the Expenditure Review Committee (ERC) in anticipation that the ERC may consider the issue of voluntary acquisition of weatherboard and fibro homes in the insulation zone around Sydney Airport, informing the ERC of SACF's earlier resolutions on this issue.

Airservices Australia tabled the Mobile Noise Monitoring Report for members to note.

ITEM 6

LONG TERM OPERATING PLAN FOR SYDNEY AIRPORT

The Chairman thanked the team which contributed to the preparation of the report, including Tony Williams, David Lidbetter and Bill Bourke. He then proceeded to canvass comments on the long term operating plan from around the table.

While individual members expressed reservations about particular aspects of the Plan, overall members favoured implementation as soon as possible provided there was some scope for flexibility to deal with unforeseen impacts. For this reason, the proposed Implementation and Monitoring Committee was seen as having potentially a vital role.

Attachment B provides more detail on issues raised by members during discussion.

Cr Martin tabled proposals concerning early implementation of some elements of the plan. It was agreed discussion on the issues be deferred until the next meeting in March when the public comment period is finished.

ITEM 7

MONITORING REPORTS

The monitoring reports distributed to members were noted for discussion at a future meeting if required.

ITEM 8

OTHER BUSINESS

The Chairman invited Cr George Newhouse of Waverley Council to address the meeting. Cr Newhouse expressed disappointment at a perceived lack of consultation with the community in his Council's area. Cr Newhouse had some suggestions for changes to the proposed flight paths over his area. The Chairman recommended that Mr Newhouse discuss the process for public comment on the Airservices report with the Department of Transport and Regional Development and issues relating to community representation with Mr Lidbetter and Mr Williams.

Mr Kevin Hill requested information from CASA on the altitudes required to clear the cranes at Port Botany be made available at the next meeting.

Mr David Lidbetter raised issues which were potentially limiting use of the east-west runway. These were the "two-hour rule" and the requirement to resume parallel runway operations after 10pm on weekends. Airservices indicated that these matters were receiving urgent attention.

The recent downturn in the overall level of usage of the east-west runway was also raised. Airservices was asked to provide an explanation of the factors involved by Friday 21 February 1997.

ITEM 9

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Members noted the briefing session to be held at the FAC Headquarters, O'Riordan Street Mascot, on Friday 21 February 1997 from 10.30am until 1pm.

Members agreed to the date of the seventh SACF meeting which will be Tuesday 11 March 1997 commencing at 9am.