Can Kempsey Airport and organic farms co-exist?

Sally Ayre-Smith from Sweet Water Farm addressed the council meeting yesterday and spoke again of her concern about possible contamination from increased flights near her organic garlic farm.

“The flight school will not increase tourism and agriculture because of the noise. It could also affect the organic status of my farm,” she said.

Sally said she had received a letter from her organic certifier stating the emissions from the planes could potentially be a contaminant. 

“We could be declared contaminated for three years if the emissions do pose a threat to the farm and our organic status,” she said.

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General manager Craig Milburn said the response council has received from the Australian Certified Organic stated that emissions can come from a number of sources, including traffic on roads, bushfires and emissions from farm machinery.

“Airports and farms are in close proximity to each other across the country and co-exist,” he said.

“We’ve seen nothing in writing that any farm in the Macleay Valley is having their organic status reviewed.”

Ms Ayre-smith believes the AIAC will decrease the opportunity of a boost in agriculture in the region. 

“It will wreck opportunities for agriculture in our area, we need to be promoting the richness of the land and grow our agriculture business,” Ms Ayre-Smith said.

Mr Milburn agrees with increasing the Valley’s agriculture sector but believes the AIAC will not deter this from happening.

“The potential is huge for organic farms across the Macleay. Airports and farms can co-exist together,” Mr Milburn said.

No further negotiations with the AIAC will happen until the Fly Neighbourly agreement and Aiport Masterplan come into effect in December. 

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