Aircraft safer at Avalon: expert
AN URBAN planning expert is calling for the state’s emergency service aircraft to be relocated to Avalon following the horrific crash of a chartered flight into a shopping centre at Essendon Airport that claimed five lives.
RMIT University academic Michael Buxton said more light planes needed to take off from Avalon Airport due to its distance from homes and businesses.
“They like Essendon Airport because it’s close to the CBD but really Avalon is only a few minutes away by aircraft,” Professor Buxton said.
He said significant commercialisation of airports should be outlawed as they were “an accident waiting it happen”.
“There’s nothing wrong with commercial operations in the terminal, but airports running super shopping centres, hotels or business parks are ridiculous and totally incompatible with the proper function of airports,” he said.
Prof Buxton said a buffer zone, free of commercial or retail space, of up to 10km should be maintained around Victorian airports.
“There is still a chance to stop the rampant commercialisation at Avalon Airport,” he said.
Avalon Airport chief executive officer Justin Giddings said the airport’s master plan outlined plans to build a shopping centre.
“We have a master plan that’s been approved and that’s where airports are going these days. We are looking to develop,” Mr Giddings said.
“There are standards and safety assessments that are done and we’re very fortunate to have 1700ha of land.”
He would not comment on calls to base the state’s emergency aircraft at the airport but said it had “massive capacity”.
“We are an airport that can take any aircraft. We’ve got lots of emergency services come through here all the time. We’re not really a light aircraft airport.”
Mr Giddings said extensive buffer zones around the airport needed to be maintained.
“We want to make sure planes aren’t flying over residential areas (near Avalon) mainly because we don’t want a curfew,” he said.
“The beauty of Avalon Airport is that we’ve got paddocks at either end and a bay at one end.”
Earlier this week Premier Daniel Andrews said Essendon Airport was crucial to the state’s economy with ‘‘many thousands’’ of passenger and freight movements per year.
Opposition spokesman for regional development Peter Walsh said the closure of Essendon Airport would be a knee-jerk reaction to Tuesday’s crash. He said it was a critically important base for a number of public services including air ambulance, Royal Flying Doctors, police air wing and the air crane helicopters that fight bushfires