TAMWORTH may be “jumping up and down” that it doesn’t have two airlines, but Armidale Regional Airport is quietly forging ahead with a $20 million makeover. An under-cover car park, depot, new hangar and airbase will all be built once given the nod by Armidale Dumaresq Council.
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A second roundabout will also be constructed for easier access and water and sewerage will soon be laid, opening up land nearby for industrial use. “This is the biggest development in the New England region in terms of transport in more than a decade,” Andrew Murat said yesterday.
“Our city had been losing services, but the development happening at the airport, which employs more than 100 people, will turn business around.
“Tamworth may be jumping up and down about not having two airlines, but our city will forge ahead with this key transport and industrial hub.” Edwards Aviation, the Rural Fire Service, Fleet Helicopters and Avis are all involved in the makeover.
Edwards Aviation owner Brad Edwards confirmed yesterday he would be building an under-cover car park to the south-west of the airport.
It would hold up to 100 vehicles and motorists would be charged about $15 a day to park there.
“It would be for all users of the airport, including tourists and visitors and our clients,” Mr Edwards said.
Fleet Helicopters owner Lachie Onslow said plans for a $1 million hangar for some of his aircraft were before Armidale Dumaresq Council.
“There certainly is a lot happening here at the airport,” Mr Onslow said.
Also on the drawing board was a $4 million plan to relocate the NSW Rural Fire Service’s fire control centre from Mann Street to the airport.
Superintendent Steve Mepham said the service was also seeking funding for an approved permanent airbase, which would cost about $340,000.
The base would be for a fire engine, forklift and pallet stack where the service would store firefighting materials, such as foam and flame retardants.
In peak firefighting season, firebombers can land and fuel at the airport every eight minutes.
“We’re operating out of a temporary base at the moment, from a converted shipping container, so we hope within about four years to have a more permanent structure out here [the airport],” Supt Mepham said.
Avis agents Greg and Laura Smythe said they were about to lodge plans to build a $200,000 rental office, storage shed and wash bay at the airport. Business has grown considerably in the past seven years and the company now operated 50 cars and 10 commercial vehicles from the airport.
Armidale regional airport users group chairman Don Tydd was instrumental in the airport’s upgrade in the 1990s, when he was general manager of Dumaresq shire council.
“If you want your city to grow, airport linkages with major centres is critical,” Mr Tydd said.
Armidale Dumaresq acting General Manager Glenn Inglis said work would shortly begin on a water main connecting Lynland Park with the airport after councillors approved the $874,00 contract on Monday.