68volksy

Looks like the weather may be closing in for Saturday. Great for Goulburn, not so great for flying :(. It'll take more than that to keep me away however! We were thinking of organising for Santa to arrive in a flying contraption of some sort or other however it seems it might have been redundant anyway.

The tenders go to closed Council tonight.

The Flying Acadamey could be great. If Council could tie them in to actually doing it. From my research there is a decided shortage of pilots - including instructors. How they think they will get enough instructors in this region to train 200 pilots is anyones guess. They will have hurdles but what I would like to see is Council making several items a condition of the sale. First and foremost that the purchaser will do what they say they will do. Second but just as important is that they will do it within a set time limit. Anyone who has visited Goulburn Airport knows of the motel that was started in 1991 and still remains incomplete. We have reason to believe the same company is behind the flying school. It can't really be that hard for Council to implement some sort of contractual obligation on a future owner to set some things in concrete.

Tenders for Goulburn Airport closed today. After all the issues over the tender period and Council's seemingly incompetent staff doing their best to scare people away from tendering they managed to get a sum total of 2 tenders. There were over 20 expressions that went out - about 18 to serious contenders. 1 tender was from the developer of the 100-odd hectare distribution park 200 metres from the airport. Only 1 guess what he wants to do with it - he declined to be interviewed for the paper. The other tender was from a consortium wishing to set up a flying academy. Why they feel they need to own an airport in order to run a flying school I cannot guess. They have stated that the motel on site would play a role in the academy providing high quality accomodation on-site. So i'm guessing they're tied in with the motel owner. It could be good for the club but I can guarantee there will not be any legal method put in place by Council to ensure that we can still access the airport or that the academy will even happen. We have some hope in a new government coming into play but I must say it's very slim. I still find it hard to believe that no-one I have spoken to knows that the Federal Government removed all those airport deeds that were in place to protect general aviation. It was a simple letter from Mark Vaile to all Councils stating "we remove our rights under these deeds". This is why the airports of this country are being sold - the government had no interest in making airports available to the public. Anyway the new government could be very much the same. Let's just hope they aren't as sneaky as the old one at least and that people know when these things happen!

Pre-tender meeting yesterday made me very embarressed to be a resident of Goulburn. The Council employees are pretty much incompetent and had given no thought to any of the questions that were raised. Simple ones like "do landholders pay rates to Council or the airport owner for the sewage system". The airport has its own sewer system which Council is still undecided on whether they are selling or not... It seems that the owner of the 15-year old "new" motel will be the most likely candidate. They spread a great deal of concern amongst those there yesterday. Also a lot of questions such as "Can the airport owner charge parking fees from the moment a plane enters a taxiway from a private hanger?" If anyone knows of someone who owns a hanger or land out there they should be very concerned. There is no requirement to keep the toilet block - it will be sold with the airport for starters. Also, most of the questions were along the lines of what rights to those landholders have and most of Councils answers were "none".

The government withdrew from those deeds in 1992. It was not publicised. The only remaining condition is that the department needs to be told if the airport is not going to be an airport any more. The consortiums that are sniffing around here would have friends in high places though which scares us. The Council tried to feed us a whole heap of bull about a transport operator wanting to start freighting stuff from here. We said if that was the case why would they bother buying the place when they can use it and have Council maintain it. And why aren't they doing it already? They honestly had not thought of that... I've been in touch with Tim Blatch. He helped as much as he could. The main problem here (and this is Goulburn to a tea) is that no-one in town really cares. It's a town consumed by apathy. When it comes to people fighting this you're looking at me and my father. We get the odd question about whether Council still wants to sell the airport but that's about it. We're doing as much as two people who work full time and are still learning to fly can.

The local member is the mayors best mate. We haven't approached him just yet but it also looks like he won't be getting re-elected so who knows.

Thanks Nudge, We've been in contact with the Environmental Defenders Office in Sydney. They handle legal wrangles with Councils for community groups and developers. They are looking through all our stuff and have found 1 possibility that comes down to the date the airport was given to Council. Anything in 1992 is fine but of course Council holds the documents that would confirm one way or the other.

Yep, The Paper's survey had 96% of people wanting the airport, the public meeting had everyone wanting the airport and no-one against and the dozen or so written submissions were all in support of keeping the airport. The process they followed to classify the land has no legal backing whatsoever and at least 3 of the 9 Councillors are against the sale. Corruption is the word that seems to be going up in bright lights. But they have control. We're getting some free legal help from the Environmental Defenders Office and can only hope they have the time and resources (and case) to take it on. Elections are next September. None of them are expecting to get back in.

The original grant of the land by the Poidevin family in 1922 for use by the Goulburn community as an airport got some coverage in todays paper and has stirred up quite a bit of interest in town apparently. The Poidevins were (and still are) a big name in Goulburn in those years. We got front page of the local paper again today. We still need letters in support of classifying the land community from wherever we can get them. I'm going to try and get a break-down of the costs of running the airport. Nobody hold their breath about this but if I can we will be able to make a presentation to Council about keeping costs down.

There have been 3 airport committees started and closed in the past 15 years or so apparently. They seem to have been established by Council more to calm people down than to actually achieve anything unfortunately. But this time we're making a hell of a racket and have gone to them with the "let's work together approach (after asking for a meeting a dozen times in writing over 7 weeks!!)". The tractor idea has been mentioned by at least 2 people on those committees but both times Council was not interested due to the liability issues. The aero club was not in any formal state at that stage. I will look into it again though - i do not see any liability problems if they "contract" the work to the aero club.

Well yesterday got the better of me. Chambers are in Bourke Street (runs parallel to the main street) call me if you need some directions this evening. If you could drop in and see RA-Aus that would be awesome.

Just a quick note to let anyone know who may be interested that there is a Council meeting on this Wednesday 12th of September at 7:00pm in the Council Chambers. The meeting will be discussing the classification of the airport as community or operational land. They stuffed up in the early 90's and we have caught them out but they seem to be getting special treatment to shortcut the proper process. Basically, community land cannot be sold. Operational land has no restrictions on the use of it. If we can get the airport classified as community land they will not be able to sell it right now. So if people turn up and show their support for the keeping of the airport as community land then, effectively, we may have won. Our problem is Council may not listen anyway but then again they might. We need as many bums on seats in support of keeping the airport as we can get!!!

Any of you guys over near Jandakot? I hear there's a heap of movement over there regarding earthworks in close proximity to the aero club and around the airport in general? Any photos? The local paper here might like to run a "This could happen to Goulburn" picture.

That's a great summary Mazda. If you haven't already done so would you be able to send that to Council or the Goulburn Post? With minor adjustments as needed. Their addresses are in my original post. The Goulburn Post has an email address which makes things easier. Just need to give them Name, address and telephone contact. I'm only one person and have already raised several of these points. Unfortunately they are starting to grow tired of my voice! If anyone else would like to bring the safety debate to the public arena please feel free to email the Post also. Thanks heaps, Tim.

Now that I like.

Another attack in the local paper today. The theme of the 2 people who have written in and are supporting the sale (and the theme of Council) is that the community is supporting a hobby or leisure activity and that is all. We keep trying to point out that it doesn't cost that much to run but they do not seem to be taking any notice! Frustrating indeed!

Any of you guys flying or flown a Gazelle that you could state was "draught proof"? There's one at the flying school down here in Goulburn that, during winter, is unbelievably cold! It has a heater which is more for amusement than much else it seems... Any quick-fixes?

It'll be the 1st Saturday of next month if anyone wants to lock it in now. 6th of October by my reckoning. I'll endeavour to put a reminder up in a couple of weeks.

Thanks to those who attended on Saturday! It's way too easy to forget there are even planes lurking in those hangers out there over winter. The marvelous spring day that Goulburn put on certainly helped. The local paper guy was out there for several hours i noticed and was taking a lot of pictures. He may have found that youthful dream of flying that gets too easily lost in todays age. Hopefully we'll get a good spread in Wednesdays paper. It really looked awesome with people wandering around and a truly friendly and enjoyable atmosphere on the day. Thanks for those photos guys - if there are any more can you email them to me at [email protected]? The BBQ's will continue as they have done. Pass the word to all and sundry that they exist - it's amazing the response we got from a post on this forum and a 20-word ad in the paper!! It sounds like Tony Lamarra is keen for us to make use of the clubhouse he built in his hanger (above the offices) so with any luck we'll have that cleaned out and made comfortable by the next BBQ. Thanks again, Tim.

I swear his assistant said he'd be just a few weeks!! The poll is still open people so keep voting NO! http://www.goulburn.yourguide.com.au About 2/3 way down page.

Beautiful. Thank You.

Thank you for the vote!! An airfield is so much more than just a place for a few locals to play - it has nationwide significance! I've been in contact with Dick's office and was informed he was overseas for a few weeks. His assistant said she'd try and get word to him. The local Paper would be more than happy i'd think to run a story with his photo. Today's paper stated that they do not think the airport should be sold so it's nice to have them on our side.

Here is a small way which everyone on here can help out by voting no: http://goulburn.yourguide.com.au/home.asp Knowing the Council employees that we have pissed off they will probably be getting everyone they know to vote so the more people clicking on that "no" button the better!! If anyone knows of other forums (international even) they can post this on that would be awesome. Or if anyone has group mail-outs please make use of them!!

All good points, We had a quick chat to RAAus last night and will contact them today. The Council will argue that the future owner cannot shut the airport. That's all and well but they can raise our fees/lock the gates to push recreational aviation out. We have no way of ensuring public access if it is owned privately. If a future owner decide sto shut it then it would be up to us to bring the appropriate legal action against them in the appropriate court and front the appropriate legal costs... Safety is a good argument in any regard however as it may make them think harder about protecting our rights. It also makes the future sale a state and country-wide affair. Thanks, Tim Allen