MILDURA’S International Flight Training Academy is having a profound effect on the health, wellbeing and potentially property values and immediate action needs to be taken to address these serious issues.
Member for Mildura Ali Cupper said her office had received a growing number of calls from residents under the academy’s flight path whose lives were being detrimentally impacted.
“There is a growing angst in our community about the flying school,” Ms Cupper said.
“We’re hearing from people whose lives really are being turned upside down because of the volume of flights going over their houses, at all times of the day and late into the night. It needs to be reviewed and changes made as a matter of urgency.”
The flight school’s training starts at 6.30am and runs until 10.30pm.
A Civil Aviation Safety Authority report released in December last year outlined how flight traffic activity at the Mildura Airport was increasing in line with the flight school’s growth, and that safety is an issue.
It said that since February, 2019, QantasLink flight crew reported seven separate air traffic incidents, including several near misses with Qantaslink flights. Not exactly reassuring news for the many locals who fly regularly – or at all.
The report also outlined the challenges Mildura Airport would face as the amount of air traffic increased.
“It is my understanding that the flight school is exploring changing training zones due to an increase in noise complaints, but I don’t want to see one cohort of residents swapped out for another group, even if the number is smaller,” Ms Cupper said.
“People have a right to the full enjoyment of their properties on terms that are fair and reasonable.
“If a family purchases a property under the flight path of a well-established regional airport with a relatively low number of daily flights, that’s one thing. But if overnight, that airport becomes the home of an international flight school with constant take-offs and landings, at all hours of the day and night, that’s another matter entirely. I don’t think that passes the pub test of what’s fair and reasonable.
“Community leaders from the airport board, to our Council, to our local MPs (including me), need to take a holistic view of the costs and benefits of attracting certain businesses to our region. We cannot allow ourselves to be blinded by dollar signs. Although at first glance, the economics of the flight school might look good, community safety and wellbeing should always be bigger priorities.”
