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A Jet landing on Runway 18 just clears MY Rooftop at "MARCOOLA" That's Aboriginal for Runway End Safety Zone |
Council will tell you that this
Airport has been carefully planned and developed with
full public consultation all along
the way until reaching its present Prize Winning position on
the verge of achieving International
status.
Nothing could
be further from the truth -- But if you repeat a lie often
enough, people will
accept it as FACT.
The FACT is
"This Airport would have to
be a Classic example of how NOT to develop an airport".
Another FACT is
Aircraft
Noise IS a Problem even if you pay $75,000 for somebody to report otherwise.
AIRPORTS mean NOISE.
And it's the NOISE that eventually
GETS TO people living near an airport
Many of the people who participated
in your last Airport Study in1998 have LEFT because of the Noise.
Here then is MY (TRUE)
VERSION of this Airport's History
I first discovered Marcoola
in JANUARY 1965, over 36 years ago. It was a paradise with no
aircraft noise to interrupt the sound
of the sea.
Back then, an Aircraft meant
a Glider of which there was a Club at the Landing Field
We spent every holiday in the Marcoola
camping reserve until it was closed in 1975 at which
time we purchased land and built our
holiday house.
In 1979 we moved here permanently
and our holiday house became our home.
I have now lived at the northern end
of runway 18/36 for the past 22 years.
I was here before the Flying Schools
or The Jets and before our Town became part of a
Runway End Safety Zone (That should
be DANGER Zone) since it's the
area most prone to
Crashes, and before Noise became a
problem.
Early History and HIGH EXPECTATIONS
in the Early Days:
Pacific Paradise
Development Pty. Ltd. built the airstrip in early 1959 in connection with
the
development
of the town of Pacific Paradise.
Later, the
Maroochy Shire Council took interest in the airstrip, which the State and
Federal
Governments
decided to develop as the Maroochy Airport and it was officially opened
as such
on 12th.
August 1961
Two years
prior to the opening the whole area had been Perpetual Swamp.
This development
at a cost of $224,000 was hailed by Mr. D. A. Low who was then shire
chairman
as ushering in a new era for fruit and vegetable industry and a magnificent
boost to
the tourist
industry.
My parents
were actually guests on the inaugural flight from Brisbane to Maroochy.
HOPES DASHED
Completion of the coastal highway
between Caloundra and Noosa had been expected to
assure the success of the subsequent
air services, but this was not to be.
Queensland Airlines (later taken over
by Ansett) and WesternAir Navigation Pty Ltd started
AND CANCELED regular services to
Maroochy
because of a lack of patronage.
On Sunday 2nd. July 1967, the Marcoola
Beach Progress Association was formed with a
membership of 40 local residents
who all believed the politicians promises of soon to come;
Bus services, Sewerage and an East/West
Runway.
That was when the airport was home
to the Glider Club and noise was not a problem.
By 1970 the Airport had turned
into what was then described by the Maroochy shire chairman
Cr. E. O. DeVere as a BIT OF A WHITE
ELEPHANT, but Council spent more money
extending the northern end of runway
18/36 by an extra 450 ft.
Ironically it was a company called
East-West Airlines, which heralded in the new era for the
aerodrome by commencing a weekly direct
flight to Sydney in December 1970
A year later, East-West was operating
a bi-weekly service to Sydney on Wednesdays and
Saturdays and Council budgeted a further
$29.000 to extend the 18/36 runway a further
1000ft to the north. This made a total
strip length of 5500 feet, which was then capable of
handling a fully loaded Fokker Friendship
with 44 passengers on board.
About this time - The Glider club was replaced by an Aero Club.
In 1975, we decided to
build our holiday house here. Right at the end of runway 18/36.
By that time aircraft traffic had
risen to about 20 a week, but nobody ever imagined the place
would ever change or develop like
the Gold Coast and Noise was still NOT A PROBLEM.
In the late 70's, East-West
were crowded out by Air NSW and Ansett, and the numbers of
Fokker Friendship services escalated
We now also had daily Metro Commuter
Services to Brisbane and for the first time we
became aware of the noise from these
aircraft.
In December 1979, I moved permanently
into our Marcoola home
-- and LIFE WAS GOOD - For a
while.
In the early 80's we saw the first
of the Flying Schools, which Council considered to be a
nice clean non-pollutant industry
and a great boon for the community.
Obviously at that time, never considering
noise as being a pollutant.
The flying schools of course maintain
that "they were here first", and
"We
should not have built our homes near the airport if we couldn't take a
bit of noise"
In 1982 unbeknown to us - Council
commissioned one of the first Master Plans to investigate
the introduction
of the F28 Jet services to the Airport. It was carried
out by G H & D
This was the TURNING POINT for
this Airport.
This was when the Council made
its GREATEST MISTAKE.
And there was NO COMMUNITY CONSULTATION
and the report itself was NEVER
released to the public.
It gave the Council 2 options;
1. Upgrade
the 18/36 runway for $9.8M or
2. Construct
the 13/31 Runway (And all its associated infrastructure, terminal,
parking etc.)
for $10.3M.
The
bottom line of which stated that the East/West runway was inevitable at
sometime
in the future.
And they recommended construction of 13/31 as the preferred option.
Unfortunately for us ALL, Council
made the wrong decision and saved a whole ½M$
History has now proved how this
short term SAVING has been the root cause of all the
present problems.
The cost of a Feasibility Study
alone is now TWICE the extra cost it would have been
to construct the whole project
back in 1983.
And so, on 9th. April 1984 -- The
WHISPER JETs were upon us.
Although the F28s were probably
the noisiest aircraft in the sky at that time, our civic leaders
tried to CON us into accepting
these MONSTERS by renaming these NOISE MAKERS .......
Whisper Jets.
From here on, conditions deteriorated
rapidly for the local residents around the airport.
The combination of ever increasing
Whisper Jet services and the growth of the Flying
Schools saw the end of our Peace
and Quiet.
NOISE HAD
BECOME A PROBLEM
And we were repeatedly told -- "It
was all our own fault."-- "The airport was here first." -- "We
should never
have built here." -- "We have no right to complain" and "If we don't like
it MOVE!"
So instead
of being CAREFULLY PLANNED – This Airport has just GROWN in the middle
of our residential area like a MALIGNANT CANCER
and
all the PLANNED DEVELOPMENT since 1983 has been in the WRONG DIRECTION
because of that FATAL DECISION to upgrade 18/36
As a result of that meeting -- AirPlan
were commissioned to investigate a suggestion from the
Community that:
Council should
proceed with a STAGED DEVELOPMENT -- but NOT of Runway
18/36.
We suggested
that NO MORE MONEY be WASTED on Never Ending Upgrades of the
North/South
Runway and instead
The East/West
Runway should at least be commenced and constructed to a stage where it
could share
most of the RPT traffic up to and including the size of Sunstate's Shorts.
This could
be done with sufficient clearances and foundations so as to be PART of
the
Futuristic
14/32 Runway if that dream was ever to be realized in the year of 2015
or beyond.
AirPlan's Report stated that
this idea was "Both
FEASIBLE and PRACTICAL"
but like all those before it that
didn't conform to Council's pre-conceived agenda
It was SHELVED
and IGNORED by Council.
Personally, I think Council has
already missed its window of opportunity back in 1983.
I cannot now see the mythical East/West
Runway EVER being built -- And why bother?
With Brisbane International only
minutes away by commuter,
why waste more money trying to
compete with it?
But the string
pullers in Council are nothing if not persistent.
They have
now decided to sponsor their own Direct Flights from Hamilton, New Zealand
in
the hopes
of boosting the Tourist Industry.
Even though Ansett recently cut services
into the Airport because of falling passenger
numbers – (I would think that they
would be in a better position to assess the situation,
and they had the whole of the
East Coast of Australia to draw customers from)
If the Council was really serious
about helping the Tourist Industry, they should do more to
protect our NATURAL RESOURCES –
which have been here since the Dream Time
and which is what attracted these
Tourists here in the first place.
Instead of which they are allowing
our Beaches to Erode and our Dunes
to become
Choked with
WEEDS such as Lantana.
They call it "Allowing
nature to take its course"
Incidentally - I could never
understand why they called it the Tourist INDUSTRY?
It must
be the ONLY Industry that DOESN'T ACTUALLY PRODUCE Anything
However – While our Council bends over
backwards to persuade every Airline Company they
can find to fly into Maroochy Airport
This parasitic Tourist Industry concentrates
on luring these unsuspecting visitors here and
packing them into their
highly priced, self contained Resorts
with their carefully
landscaped Nature Walks and Echo-Systems
so they never get to see the degradation of our
once-beautiful coastline.
All for the purpose of fleecing them for every cent they can get.
Personally
I think Council should forget its "Pie in the Sky" ideas of Direct Overseas
Flights
and concentrate
on alleviating the noise impact on the long suffering local residents it
disadvantaged
by its mistake in 1983.
But like the State Planning Policy 2/92 it's 30 years TOO LATE.
The Airport
has been allowed to DEVELOP in the midst of our Town,
and
now WE are expected to Insulate our Homes and install
DOUBLE
GLAZED Windows against the NOISE.
And the stupid
part of this is; It applies to EXTENSIONS and RENOVATIONS
Personally
I built here to enjoy the Climate and listen to the Sound of the Sea –
Not to cower
behind my Double Glazed Windows (Which Must remain CLOSED)
and turn
on my Air-conditioning in order to escape the Noise Pollution of THEIR
making.
And even if
I am able to convince one of these Valuers that this increase is UNFAIR
and UNJUSTIFIED - Next year I will have to
go through the Whole Process AGAIN!!!!
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The most HATED One of Sunstates SHORTS Roars over our Roof Tops to land on Runway 18 We have had 2 and sometimes 3 of these MONSTERS here at once doing Circuit Training for 3 hours or more at a time (That's One landing every MINUTE - for 3 hours at a time) No wonder we HATE them!!!! |
