Mr Brian Glendenning, General Counsel at Central Coast Council, has advised the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Councillors, not to respond to a consultant seeking their opinions on the future of the Central Coast Airport.
Wyong Regional Chronicle has obtained a copy of Mr Glendenning’s email to all Councillors.
It said: “A councillor has received an email from John Codrington of Butler Hardy Corporate.
“Butler Hardy Corporate are registered lobbyists as well as providing support services for law firms,” Mr Glendenning said.
“Butler Hardy have not indicated who their instructing client is,” his email to Councillors said.
“If you have received a similar request, I advise that you are under no obligation to provide a substantive response to Butler Hardy Corporate, and to avoid putting yourself in the position of having a pre-determined position on matters that may come before the Council concerning the Airport, I strongly recommend that you politely decline to provide a substantive response.
“If that is the position you take, then I recommend that you respond to the email from Butler Hardy as follows: ‘Thank you for your email.
“‘It is not appropriate for me to indicate my position on the future of the Central Coast Airport.
“‘As a councillor, I am required to make decisions based on all relevant information, and when I am asked to be part of a decision on the future of the Airport I will consider all relevant information that is available to me at that time’.”
Mr John Codrington’s facebook page, which lists him as a Senior Advocate at Butler Hardy Corporate, includes several recent posts about the airport including a “feel good story showing the Central Coast Aero Club’s commitment to the community.
“Please like and share this and my previous post as much as you can to show the Central Coast Councillor’s that we are an integral and important part of the Central Coast community,” one of Mr Codrington’s posts said.
Mr Glendenning’s correspondence to the Councillors included the wording of the email sent by Mr Codrington.
Butler Hardy Corporate asked the Councillors: “Are you in favour of the current Airport infrastructure remaining as it is?
“If your answer is yes, can you please advise your position in allowing the Central Coast Airport being continued to be developed and expanded as a general aviation (GA) hub to support ancillary services such as avionics repair and replacement facilities, pilot training operations (in addition to that which is provided by the Central Aero Club), light aircraft hangarage and servicing facilities, and other aeronautical related businesses as an aeronautical business park as per the expressions of interest that were sought earlier this year?
“Please Note, Our client certainly does not advocate and, in fact, would resist/support [sic] the current site not being developed as a Regular Public Transport (RPT) Airport, as was suggested previously, as being uncommercial and nonsensical and certainly respects the position of obtaining a balance between commercial business applications which will employ hundreds of people both skilled and unskilled, and bringing a much needed economic boost to the region, however, at the same time respecting and protecting the environmental concerns which adjoin some of the boundaries of the Airport site.
“If your answer is yes, however, [that] the current infrastructure to remain as it is or with only limited expansion please specify what you would initially support?
“If your answer is no, can you please let me know what your position is and the reason/s why you are taking this stance?
“Can you please provide a detailed explanation that supports your view, so we may understand the position from your perspective?”
Clr Doug Vincent, who expressed reservations about the development of a Central Coast regional airport throughout his six years as a Wyong Councillor, said his initial response to the email from Butler Hardy Corporate “almost read like a legal letter.
“Over a six year period, I have tracked the airport saga and have not been satisfied that there is a sound business case to be investing ratepayers’ money in a type three airport,” Clr Vincent said.
“Nothing ever satisfied me it was going to fly.
“When Badgery’s Creek is completed, the Central Coast region will be serviced by more airports than any other region in Australia,” he said.
Clr Vincent said he remained unconvinced, following the October 23 Council meeting, that staff were going to release the airport master plan, in line with Councillors’ wishes.
“I went back about four times saying we want the master plan to be released, we want it out of confidential and in Councillors’ hands, and the public’s hands, and it was like pulling teeth.
“I am not going to give up, we are purely asking staff to provide information as the governing board that will assist us to make sound decisions on behalf of ratepayers.”
Clr Vincent said good practice would be for Council meeting minutes to be released within a week of the meeting to give Councillors adequate time to review their accuracy and for the public to comment.
However, he said he expected the minutes from the October 23 meeting to be released on Wednesday November 23, the latest possible date to give Councillors and the public enough time to respond to them before the next Council meeting on November 27.
Wyong Regional Chronicle understands that several Councillors have expressed concerns to staff about the accuracy of draft minutes from the October 23 meeting in relation to the resolution made about the release of information on the airport.
Source:
Email, Nov 15
Councillor support, Central Coast Council
Interview, Nov 17
Doug Vincent, Central Coast Council
Jackie Pearson, journalist