Bravo JACC!!
The JACC deserve the plaudits from the wider GA community, as do to a lesser extent the good folk of the Mandurah area, for waging a clever campaign to see the dirty proposal to relocate Jandakot off for the time being. It was gratifying to see a Federal Minister at long last come out in such a positive vein which was in part caused by sitting Pollies in the area sniffing the political wind - it would've been an ill-wind to Don Randal who has now proclaimed a relocation of YPJT as a dead duck if he hadn't changed his tune - he's still a tosser in my opinion.
There is a bigger picture however that we should all stay alert to and that is that these new owners, whether they be of the major airports or secondary's, is that the trend since privatisation 1997 is that they are Property Developers first and Airport Operators a distant second. DOTARS should be getting ready to start getting community backlashes to developers seeing themselves as getting a free kick to others in the business world that need to abide by State planning laws etc.
The issue for Jandakot and I suspect all our secondary airports is that as rental/lease terms come up for review the greediness will set in to make a return and smaller GA support tenants (welding shops, instrument shops, cafe's etc) will be on the receiving end, with many I suspect being better off away from the airport. That will not be good and as the airport population recedes the pressure to close down or relocate these important pieces of transport infrastructure, because other land development opportunities will serve a greater community good, will continue to persist I suspect unless the Commonwealth sends a very clear message as Mark Vaille has done on this occasion.
The JACC, through Michael Braybrook, Gary Gaunt et al have been fantastic, but the Federal Minister needs to now ensure that if these airports are to remain as essential infrastructure in perpetuity as was pledged, then we need a better model than DOTARS to effectively monitor the Airports Act and to go further by appointing a GA Ombudsman to allow the industry recourse if they are being treated unfairly and the airport owners are not doing as they said they would in developing these airports through the master planning process.
I could go on, but hasn't the privatisation of our airports been just fantastic for the vibrancy and future of aviation in this country - not. It won't be the same, but JACC take a huge bow - well done guys!!