By Tate Papworth
A number of Brimbank residents have vowed to continue to seek answers to questions they have surrounding Melbourne Airport’s proposed third runway.
A community workshop held by Airservices Australia last Wednesday night failed to address a number of the group’s concerns.
Melbourne Airport Community Action Group member Hannah Robertson attended the workshop and said while parts were informative, she still had a number of unanswered concerns.
“Two people from Airservices presented. There were moments when they got quite short, which is understandable considering they had to keep the meeting flowing, but it adds to the sense that we’re not being listened too,” she said.
“We had very little notice and very little time to prepare for this meeting. Flight path design is an extremely complex thing and most community members don’t have a background in this.
“It’s not reasonable to expect us to prepare an adequate response to something like this in a short period of time.”
Ms Robertson said there’s a need for some concrete guidelines.
“A lot of what the community is concerned about is beyond the realm of what Airservices has control over,” she said.
“There are no baseline standards for how loud aircraft noise can be and how much there can be. We have principles, but without standards what’s the point?
“They’re especially needed because I don’t think it’s possible to design flight paths around Melbourne Airport that would adequately meet community expectations.”
The registration process for the meeting also missed the mark.
A number of community members said when they registered, they received an email asking if they had any dietary requirements, only to then receive another email telling them the workshop was full.
The issue was corrected, however Ms Robertson said a one-off Melbourne workshop wasn’t enough.
“I’ve asked how six workshops across the country, one in Melbourne, of 30 people each, would be an accurate representative of a cross-section of community.
“What’s also concerning is they held a seperate session with the council.”
