MEDIA RELEASE
Flight Training Stopped at Busselton Regional Airport - 8 October
2009
Busselton Shire President, Cr Wes Hartley, has said "Today Flight Training Operators will be advised by the Shire of Busselton that the Busselton Regional Airport cannot be used for flight training unless valid planning approvals exist and that future flight training will require planning approval in accordance with the Town Planning Scheme 20".
Usage of the Airport for activities associated with flight training including landing and taking off, approaches, missed approaches and touch and goes is not permitted without planning consent.
Failure to comply with this request may result in an infringement or prosecution under the Planning and Development Act 2005.
Acting CEO Matthew Smith said "The Shire has obtained legal advice and if an organisation wishes to continue to use the Busselton Regional Airport for flight training, the appropriate application will need to be completed and submitted. The application will then need to go through the assessment process. Operators will be required to make application to the Shire if they wish to undertake flight training from the Airport."
While it's not exactly clear in it's intent, I'd say they won't allow training flights at the airport by operators
based at Busselton, which I suspect they could enforce. They would need to publish the ban in ERSA to deter training organisations from outside using the airport.
In any case, they have no authority over the airspace, and have no legal authority to stop approaches and missed approaches. Unless the information was volunteered, how would they know if an itinerant aircraft was on a training flight when it landed and took off ?
