By Oliver Lees and Tara Murray
Melbourne Airport has laid out its plan for the future, with a third runway anticipated to bring more noise, traffic and employment opportunities for those living in its surrounding areas.
The airport released its draft Master Plan and preliminary Major Development Plan on January 31, which elaborates on a long held ambition to construct another runway for domestic and international flights.
The draft Master Plan states that this will cost $1.9 billion and will take between four and five years to build.
But with a number of steps in the way before works commence, including a community consultation period and approval from the federal Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Minister Barnaby Joyce, the airport is anticipating the runway to be open “in the latter part of the decade”.
The airport expects the development to create an additional 37,000 jobs statewide, including 3200 onsite positions.
“Most of this increase in jobs will support employment in the local community,” the document stated.
The new runway will be constructed with a north-south orientation and will change the existing predominant flight paths that run around the clock.
An airport spokesperson explained that the direction was chosen to maximise flight availability and to capitalise on prevailing wind conditions.
However the design will also see greater noise interference across Hume, particularly in Bulla, as the township lies just north of the new runway.
The airport’s noise forecast maps in the draft Master Plan indicate that Bulla may experience 20 or more daily instances of aircraft noise greater than 70 decibels.
In a statement, the Hume Residents Airport Action Group encouraged the community to engage in the consultation process.
“Residents of neighbouring communities agree that aviation impact should be more broadly distributed and not concentrated to selected areas to achieve economic outcomes,” the statement read.
It comes as members of the Melbourne Airport Community Action Group said they feel residents have no standing and had been left out of the process until this stage.
“We haven’t seen anything about the draft master plan or the major development plan,” the group’s Hannah Robertson said.
“We do want to make it clear we aren’t anti-aviation and recognise the many social and economic benefits.
“But we simply want to see a responsible aviation sector that doesn’t externalize the costs of airport safeguarding onto the community.”
Ms Robertson said the group had been left in the dark about the plans and called for a broader vision from the government into all modes of transport.
She admits that if the new runway does go ahead, that she, like many others, will consider moving away.
“Before COVID, most days for blocks of four to five hours every morning and evening, it was constant by the time one aircraft started to fade the next one started.
“Double the number of communities north and south of the airport will experience what we are already experiencing, before this lockdown happened.
“It’s like having lawn mowers going off around the community constantly all day.”
Community consultation will continue until May 16.
Details: www.melbourneairport.com.au/runway
