Essendon Lunatics Again
Air base opens
THE Essendon home of the air ambulance and police air wing has been opened after a $20 million upgrade.
The state-funded upgrade to the air ambulance and police air wing base at Essendon Airport includes more hangar space for planes and helicopters.
Ambulance Victoria air operations manager Phil Hogan said the new base would benefit patients brought to Melbourne from rural areas and those being transferred from Melbourne.
``On fine days it's not a problem to unload patients outside but if the weather is bad we can now bring them into the hangar to do it out of the wind and the rain,'' Mr Hogan said.
He said the new base was ``up there with world's best practice'' and had better training and video conferencing facilities.
``There was a bit of uncertainty about when we'd get the upgrade but now we've got it and know we have a future here,'' Mr Hogan said.
But Close Essendon Airport Campaign member Helen van den Berg said feedback from local residents was that the police air wing and air ambulance were a ``major source of aircraft noise''.
She said residents had noticed increased noise in the past few months, particularly from helicopters.
``We will continue to work for the relocation of this airport,'' Ms van den Berg said.