I am writing to oppose the proposed fee structure for Scone Memorial Airport, as contained in Council's proposed DPOP.
It is observed Council proposes to carry over casual landing and parking fees for visiting aircraft, with slight increases commensurate with inflation.
I cannot support landing or fees for light "general aviation" (GA) aircraft, that is, the type often owned and flown by visiting private pilots and that typically weigh less than 3,500Lbs / 1,500Kg. These aircraft would be subject to a landing fee in the $20-25 range for each landing in addition to a parking fee of approximately $75 should they spend two days in Scone before returning home leading to over $100 in "Council fees" just to visit town as a tourist.
It is noted Scone does not currently have metered parking for residents or visitors to town, not any toll or "entry fee" to town for visitors arriving by road, such as the 'Grey Nomads" in their 4-Tonne Landcruiser towing a 3.5-Tonne caravan, indeed Upper Hunter Shire Council even provides camping and sewage dump point facilities completely free of charge to these visitors, to
encourage such tourists to the region, and I applaud Council for doing so.
However, your attention is drawn to commentary on pilots forums PPRuNe1 and RecreationalFlying2 where visiting pilots clearly state they actively avoid airports that charge a landing fee, either through being made to feel unwelcome when compared to caravanners, or finding 'better value' in visiting a town whose airport is free to use.
When viewed against airports such as Temora or Narromine, it is observed neither of these airports charge fees, yet both offer far superior facilities than that found at Scone, ie Temora has multiple runways, their Aviation Museum has child-friendly play areas, there is accommodation available
on the airport for pilots and their passengers in addition to the Museum itself being superior to Hunter Warbirds in terms of facilities, physical size and the provision flying days, as well as the number and nature of aircraft on display. Narromine, like Temora, offers more flexibility in terms of runways, has both a gliding club and aero club on the field as well as an aviation museum and accommodation located on the airport.
When considering how we may attract visitors to both Hunter Warbirds or Scone itself, who naturally have a choice of what town they visit, it is noteworthy to consider that for a pilot taking off from Bankstown, Scone is 25 minutes closer than both Temora or Narromine (using a cruise speed of 140Knots), however, the addition of landing and parking fees renders Scone the more expensive town to visit, especially when one considers that once you land
at Scone, there are few transport options into town, unless you are already aware of the taxi's operating hours, or Upper Hunter Rideshare, you will be forced to walk several km into town.
In short, the extension of landing and parking fees for visiting aircraft renders Scone Airport both uncompetitive in a financial sense, and unwelcoming in a tourist sense, to visiting recreational pilots and their passengers. However, it must be noted that I do not oppose, and in fact actively support, landing and parking fees for aircraft that are registered to a commercial entity, for they are using a Council asset in the course of their business and as such, should be expected to reimburse Council. But for aircraft below 3,500Lbs and registered to an individual, I urge Council to scrap the landing and parking fees as a way of attracting more visitors to the region. What little money Council would lose in landing fees from such an endeavour would be more than made up by the increase in income to local businesses.
In closing, I draw your attention to Cr R. Campbell's comments from the December 2020 Ordinary Council Meeting where he said emphatically stated
"We want this airport to be used much much more in the future, and if we're going to just, just do it uh and then just think we haven't had a strike here since whatever it was we're looking back, let's look to the future, we want as many planes as can come in more planes in the future that's going to make it the usage of the airport much more worthwhile."
Abolishing landing fees for privately-owned GA aircraft would go a long way towards achieving this, with the attendant benefits for the town as a whole.
Sincerely,
The KRviator.
1.
Unfriendliest airport for GA in Australia?
2.
https://www.recreationalflying.com/t...-needed-please