Councillor seeks proactive release of airport lease documents

Rob Noble (former CEO, Central Coast Council) and Khoa Hoang (President, Amphibian Aircraft Group) signed the 40 year lease in 2016Rob Noble (former CEO, Central Coast Council) and Khoa Hoang (President, Amphibian Aircraft Group) signed the 40 year lease in 2016

Councillor, Louise Greenaway, has called upon the CEO of Central Coast Council, Gary Murphy, to consider the proactive release of the Council’s lease to Amphibian Aerospace Industries (AAI), and the agreement between the two parties, as part of its proactive release of documents.

Greenaway told the July 23 Council meeting that she was aware that the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal had approved the “read-only” release of the documents under a Government Information Public Access (GiPA) appeal. Hence, she said, she would like the general public to be given the chance to access the documents, even if they had to attend an office of Council to read them. Council resolved to request Murphy to proactively release further documents. If released, those documents may be published on Council’s dedicated “proactive release” page on its website.

Mayor Jane Smith said Council was leading the way in local government in its commitment to releasing information so the community could have faith in the council decision-making processes. “We want to be proactive and release information that will inform our residents about the history of projects and the basis of decisions. “I commend the staff on championing this program” Smith said. “This is what the community want and Council will continue to work on identifying documents that are appropriate for proactive release to keep the community informed.

Other documents relating to the Wyong Employment Zone and the Central Coast Airport have previously been proactively released, along with a significant number of other documents. Council’s CEO will consider the proactive release of the lease to Australian Amphibian Industries (AAI) and the agreement for lease between Council and AAI as authorised by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, as well as a number of planning and strategic documents relating to the Gosford CBD. All proactively released documents can be found on the Council’s website at centralcoast.nsw.gov.au/proactiverelease

Source: Media release, Jul 24 Jane Smith, Central Coast Council Agenda item 4.6, Jul 23 Central Coast Council ordinary meeting Jackie Pearson, journalist