Given the time between our last communication and now, your committee felt that an update on the progress of the secondary airfield proposal for Canberra is due. Since our last communication there has not been a lot of movement, however, there are a couple of things worth discussing.

We have arranged a meeting with the ACT Government to discuss some opportunities to work with them more closely and progress our efforts to establish a secondary airfield within the Territory. In preparation for this meeting we are undertaking an impact study to determine the broader economic impacts of establishing a secondary airfield facility. The aim of this is to identify elements of our plans that are attractive to the government. In other words, the airfield we hope to establish will create employment and add to the bottom line for the government.

This is especially relevant at the moment given two recent developments. Firstly, the closure of Canberra’s last flying school and, secondly, criticism of the government for a lack of vision.

In the last few days some of you may have noticed the news items detailing the closure of the flying school arm of Brindabella Airlines. They commenced operating the school in 2000 and at the time, there we some 6 schools on the field. Since this time costs and operational pressures have led to the demise of all these schools except for Brindabella Airlines. Unfortunately, the same issues have finally seen this last school call it a day and they plan to cease operating from late this year. Lara Corry-Boyd, Brindabella’s manager, suggested that, “a smaller airfield within reach of Canberra would have made it much easier to continue operating”.

Also in the news lately is the criticism of our government for having a lack of vision. The Property Council of Australia has released a report outlining their thoughts on the future for the ACT. Their view is that the current approach to planning will lead to “declining community services” and the report discusses the need for a “diversified economy”.

Our vision for a secondary airfield addresses these issues. It will provide an ideal location for ongoing flight training services as well as the associated businesses of maintaining and repairing aircraft. Furthermore, by supporting and nurturing the growth of a vibrant new industry in the Territory, it will aid in the development of a diversified economy.

We still intend to hold a meeting in the ACT discussing the progress of our plans and any other developments along the way but in the meantime we will hold a discussion at this year’s NatFly even hosted by Recreational Aviation Australia. The event is being held at Temora over the Easter long weekend and we have a seminar time booked in for Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm in Hangar B. Come along and have a chat with us and put your ideas and views forward. As you are no doubt aware, any project such as this is absolutely dependent on community support, so please come along and bring others with you. It is important that we are all actively involved in this process in order achieve our goals.

As always, please feel free to forward this email to those you think may be interested in being a part of this project. We welcome anyone who supports us and is interested in securing a future for aviation in the capital region. To keep up to date with our progress make sure you sign up at our website – www.craa.org.au. As more news comes to hand it will be updated on the site.