A rescission motion to stop the Council signing a lease for a helicopter business at Warnervale AIrport failed to get the numbers at the December 10 meeting of Central Coast Council.
Councillor Margot Castles had put forward the rescission motion after the November meeting gave CEO David Farmer authority, as a matter of urgency, to negotiate, finalise and execute an aviation services lease for a helicopter hub over part of Central Coast Airport at Warnervale with parties represented by Nighthawks Aviation.
The rescission motion called for lease negotiations with Nighthawks Aviation and their proposed supplier Hill Helicopters, or any other aviation entity, to be halted until after Council adopts the Airport Masterplan, due to come before the council early next year.
Castles wanted any lease proposal to be subject to the adoption of the masterplan and to include: high level due diligence; full transparency of the legal, operational and financial status and capabilities of Nighthawks Aviation or any other aviation entity; and external independent evidence that noise and environment standards will be met.
She also wanted councillor briefings regarding Warnervale Airport and relevant matters including the Warnervale Employment Zone to be expedited.
But Castles didn’t get the numbers for her rescission motion.
The five Liberals and three Team Central Coast councillors voted against it (eight) while five Labor and two independents (seven) voted for it.
Mayor Lawrie McKinna supported Council’s decision, reiterating that a helicopter lease would not affect the masterplan to be handed down next year.
“Very little money would need to be spent on this and we are not locked into anything,” he said.
“Council staff are still speaking to Nighthawks Aviation (before a decision is made).
“This is about securing 50 jobs for the region.”
As published in Coast Community News last week, Council has agreed to allow the CEO to finalise the lease.
A report to Council said that sufficient land has been identified to accommodate the immediate request.
“The indicative lease area on offer is 10,000 sq m (1 hectare) however the amount of land that is offered for lease may be greater than this depending on the outcome of commercial negotiations and also on the time at which the land is required to be actively developed and used,” the reportl said.
“Additional land is expected to become available for a helicopter hub over time, pending the adoption of the long-term airport Masterplan.”
See last week’s story here:
Anything that promotes tourism & jobs gets my vote & feels good, my opinion Michael
Anything that destroys the peace and quiet of our beautiful environment does not get my vote. We already have to put up with people joyriding their ultra-lights, helicopters and planes. Allowing more aircraft infrastructure will only serve to further degrade our quality of life. The only development that should be approved would be for emergency services especially considering climate change. Allowing more aircraft into our airspace only increases the risk of an accident.