Gerald Lynch
This story was originally published in September 2024 and Star Weekly has chosen to share it again for readers to enjoy.
Melbourne Airport’s third runway has been given the green light by the federal government, but not everyone has welcomed the decision.
On Friday, Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King announced she had approved a development plan for the new north-south runway – submitted to the government 19 months ago.
She said the runway meets the demands of a “growing city“. It will be completed in 2031.
“Melbourne’s third runway will bring it in line with Sydney and other globally-competitive airports,” she said.
Ms King said “certain conditions” had been imposed on Melbourne Airport to reduce community impact, including restoration of the east-west runway to maximise the opportunities for noise sharing, and the implementation of a noise amelioration program to communities most impacted.
“The noise sharing plan will be developed by the airport, and in consultation with local communities, over the years to come,” Ms King continued.
Brimbank council said it was “disappointed” with the government’s decision to approve the runway without first having commissioned an independent health impact assessment.
“Council’s key priority is to make sure the Third Runway does not compromise the health, wellbeing and amenity of the community. It is encouraging to see that our advocacy has resulted in the Federal Government imposing conditions on Melbourne Airport, but we are concerned these conditions are not yet firmly detailed and may not go far enough in mitigating noise and health impacts,” said mayor Ranka Rasic
“Our community is looking for iron clad guarantees and work completed or underway on amelioration measures before the Third Runway opens for business. Brimbank Council looks forward to seeing the full details of the Minister’s conditional approval, and the Major Development Plan when it is released. We will continue to call for a seat at the table to discuss how our community should be engaged and listened to on this project.”
No Third Tulla Runway group member Shannon Meilak said the minister had let down the community.
“Melbourne Airport just wants to be the biggest and best … and they aren’t considering the community in their decisions,” Ms Meilak said.
“I look at it and think, do we actually really need this runway? We have an international airport sitting out at Avalon being largely unused.”
Melbourne Airport chief executive Lorie Argus welcomed the approval and looks forward to an upgraded capacity of the airport.
“The runway project will secure 51,000 jobs in Victoria’s tourism, agriculture, education and other export industries, and will help add an additional $6 billion a year to the state economy,” she said.
“The new runway will require new flight paths, and as part of this project we will be facilitating noise attenuation for dwellings in the most impacted areas.”
