President of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) of Australia Phillip Reiss said the council had an obligation to the people of Kempsey and a requirement under its agreement with the Federal Government to retain the airport.

“Airports were given to councils by the Commonwealth on the basis they would be maintained and kept operational as airports and that should be adhered to,” he said.

“Taxpayers paid for these airports and they have great community benefits. That’s something you can’t measure in terms of cash money.”

Mr Reiss said he had serious reservations about proposed resurfacing works at the airport, which the council suggests need to be completed within two years at a cost of $750,000.

“In my opinion the runway is perfectly adequate,” he said.

“Now I’m not a civil engineer and I didn’t do a detailed inspection, but it compares favourably with other airports I’ve been to.

“Patches need repair, just like they do on any surface, but the general consensus from pilots is the runway is adequate.”

He said an option to reduce the length of the runway would spell disaster for the facility.

“Halving the runway is the beginning of the end as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

“It’s merely a back door way of council achieving its goals.”

The council says a 20-year concept plan for the airport to develop 60 hangar lots would cost $4.5 million to implement over four stages.

It says the maximum sales return based on an independent valuation of the plan is $3 million, or a loss of $1.5 million.

A facts sheet on the airport is currently available to the community on the council’s website.

The AOPA is running a series of articles on Australia’s disappearing airports on its online news service.

The community has voiced strong opposition to a proposition that the council make a ‘staged withdrawal’ from the airport.