Local residents attended a meeting of the Hobart Airport Community Aviation Consultation Group (CACG) on Tuesday 20th February to hear an update on the flight path review from Airservices Australia representatives.
They provided an update on the review, but little more than we already know from the Terms of Reference, i.e that they are not currently planning to consult with residents until August.
We pushed them on the following points, which will be recorded in the Minutes:
- Affected residents and businesses must be involved from the outset, i.e. from March
- Local government, relevant State government agencies and tourism/business representatives should be consulted
- The CACG is not the appropriate forum for consultation - a specific reference group would be more appropriate
- Environmental assessments must use predicted traffic rather than past - eg. in line with growth forecasts announced by the Airport at today's meeting
- A dedicated contact point should be provided for the review, rather than having to use the complaints form
Airservices has said residents will be consulted throughout the Review. Waiting until August 2018, after findings and recommendations have already been completed is not good enough!