Councillor Leo Hauville put forward a motion to prevent the Australian International Aviation College (AIAC) from extending their training hours and flying on public holidays at today's council meeting.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Council has no intention of altering or extending the current AIAC flight restrictions.
The motion was defeated at the council meeting but the decision won't change AIAC flight hours or flight activity conditions.
Kempsey Shire Council general manager Craig Milburn said the current agreement with AIAC will stay in place.
"At the moment there is no flying on public holidays and the number of flights are not increasing. Council isn't looking to change this," he said.
"Council is looking at asking AIAC if their planes have transponders in them and if so could they be turned on for greater transparency of their operations at Kempsey Airport.
"This motion today won't change what is already happening."
President of Save Kempsey Airport Action Group (SKAAG) Adam Ulrick addressed the councillors at the meeting and said council should terminate the agreement with AIAC due to a number of breaches of the agreement.
"There should be no extension and council should terminate the agreement for non-compliance by AIAC," Mr Ulrick said.
"There have been 13 breaches by the AIAC, including flying on the October long weekend."
Councillor Hauville spoke for his motion at the meeting and said council needs to ensure there will be no increase in flight hours.
"The current flight hours are sufficient for the AIAC to get their training. People near the airport aren't happy with the current number of hours, but we need to make sure they don't increase," he said.
The agreement 'Flight Training - Conditions of use of Kempsey Airport' was signed on July 16 2018 and contains an option for a 12 month extension from July 1 this year.
"The agreement with AIAC will stay in force after the Noise Management Plan comes into place," Mr Milburn said.
The motion was defeated at the meeting but this won't change AIAC flight hours or flight activity conditions.
The Noise Management Plan and Fly Neighbourly Agreement are currently on public exhibition until May 1.
Stay ahead with local news by signing up for the Macleay Argus newsletter here.