25th December 2011, 12:50 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Blue Mountains
Posts: 172
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Where did the Terrograph get this bit of information?
http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/n...-1226228884434
Quote:
UPDATE 12.16AM THE NSW government says it will continue to oppose a second international airport in Sydney following reports a site in the city's west is under consideration.
The Nepean option, covering Luddenham, Wallacia and Greendale, is shaping up as a leading location in a joint federal-state study.
But NSW Planning and Infrastructure Minister Brad Hazzard says the federal government had not briefed him about putting an airport in western Sydney.
"Reports in the media today have come from a report that I certainly haven't seen," he told reporters in Sydney.
"But there is a very strong view in the NSW state government that a second airport will certainly not be happening in the Sydney basin, nor will it happen on the Central Coast."
The study suggested Sydney Airport was nearing capacity.
But the peak tourism body said Sydney Airport had the capacity to expand and this should be considered ahead of building a second airport.
"Sydney Airport's proximity to the city centre is the envy of other global cities and has benefits for business and tourism alike," chief executive of the Tourism & Transport Forum John Lee said.
"Unless Sydney Airport is allowed to grow, NSW risks losing new international services to other cities, which do not face the same restrictions as Sydney."
THE Nepean district is the prime location for a second international airport for Sydney, a high-level government taskforce has found.
Sources revealed the Nepean option - which covers Luddenham, Wallacia and Greendale in the city's west - is "streets ahead" of other locations, according to economic modelling.
A draft blueprint also suggested long-suffering inner-city residents could be subjected to an 8 per cent increase in aircraft noise as a short-term fix to Australia's most pressing transport problem.
It said Sydney Airport was at breaking point, despite its private-sector owners claiming they had plenty of room to grow, and warned the cost of doing nothing could run into billions of dollars.
Western Sydney was ahead of a number of alternative sites for a second airport, including the Central Coast and the small town of Wilton, about 80km southwest of the CBD.
But the recommendation presents a thorny problem for the Gillard government, which has ruled out constructing an airport around Badgerys Creek, identified in 1969 as a possible location to land jet aircraft.
Among a number of options, the taskforce canvassed expanding airport facilities at Richmond, currently an RAAF site, and Bankstown, which is only used by non-passenger aircraft.
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The report said Bankstown could be turned into a "hub" for regional flights from airlines such as Rex and Qantas Jetlink, which currently clog up air slots at Sydney's main facility.
The prospect of turning these into "spillover" airports was strongly promoted in the report, which is running months behind schedule after being announced in December 2009.
The joint Gillard/O'Farrell Study on Aviation Capacity for the Sydney Region also examined lifting the "cap" on aircraft movements at Sydney - currently set at a maximum of 80 per hour - to about 85.
That would be political dynamite for the federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese, who is a long-standing advocate of a second airport for Australia's main tourism gateway.
Increasing the hourly flow of aircraft would trigger mass protests over airport noise across much of inner Sydney, including in Mr Albanese's seat of Grayndler, which has a strong Greens support base.
And the benefits of the government approving a more generous "cap" would be only minimal.
Mr Albanese last night declined to comment on the findings. Successive federal governments have baulked at building a second airport in Sydney but well-placed sources said the "chickens are coming home to roost" and Canberra and the state government had no option but to consider a new facility.
That is a challenge for Premier Barry O'Farrell, who in April effectively ruled out supporting another airport in the Sydney basin.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/n...#ixzz1hVkW82ux
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