The conservative Liberal-National Treasurer in the New South Wales state government is on the defensive over plans to expand the airport in the state capital, Sydney.
Treasurer Mike Baird has denied backing consideration of extra runways puts him at odds with the state premier, Barry O?Farrell?s Canberra airport proposal.
At the same time the mayor of Sutherland Shire, the area where the airport is located, has slammed the proposals.
?The plan to build a fourth and fifth runway at Kurnell is a ridiculous one and should be scrapped immediately,? said Sutherland Shire Mayor Kent Johns.
Defending the proposals Mr Baird said the plan to build a fourth and fifth runway at Sydney Airport on reclaimed land in Botany Bay should be considered in detail.
Premier O?Farrell has backed a proposal for Canberra airport to be expanded and linked to Sydney by a high-speed rail network.
Mr Baird said his support for a closer look at extra runways at Sydney Airport is a case of maximising existing infrastructure before taking the next step and moving to new infrastructure.
?Certainly doing that is very consistent with the premier?s views,? he told Macquarie Radio news.
The Sydney Airport expansion has been costed at $5.2 billion, half the cost of a second airport, in this year?s joint federal-state study on Sydney aviation capacity.
Mr Baird said he believed the Sydney Airport owners and the federal and NSW governments could all contribute to funding the extra runways.
?By backing the plan, NSW Treasurer Mike Baird is ignoring the ecological damage it will cause to the Towra Point Wetland, and is showing a complete lack of respect for the heritage of the Kurnell peninsula, not to mention what impact it will have on the residents of Kurnell,? said Mayor Johns.
The proposal for Sydney Airport South includes developing two parallel runways, each be up to 4000m in length and separated by 760m in the southern part of Botany Bay.
The runways will be between Cronulla and Sutherland on the west side and Kurnell on the east.
?This airport expansion proposal was originally proposed a decade ago by IAC Aviation,? Councillor Johns said.
It was a stupid plan then and it is even more stupid now,? said the Mayor.
?The runways will tear straight through the heart of the Towra Point Wetland which is a habitat for a number of threatened shorebird species listed as an endangered ecological community under the Threatened Species Conservation Act.
?The Treasurer cannot ignore the environmental damage this plan will cause.?
?In 2004 the Kurnell Peninsula Headland was recognised for its heritage significance and included in the National Heritage List.
?The area has undergone rehabilitation and significant steps have been made towards safeguarding its environmental, cultural and historic values.
?The Sutherland Shire community won?t support the plan for the fourth and fifth runways at Kurnell and we will fight against any plans to build them.
?The residents of Kurnell already have to put up with the existing airport and the constant plane noise, an oil refinery, a desalination plant and sewage run-off. Adding two extra runways is an insult.
?It is up to the Federal government to find an alternative solution and leave Kurnell alone?, said Councillor Johns.
Source: http://econews.com.au/news-to-sustain-our-world/nsw-treasurer-defends-sydney-airport-expansion/
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