Then, one of the BRB is prepared to swear on a Stat Dec that there were several at a Bankstown meeting where all were informed that ripping out the 18/36 runway was an essential part of the purchase deal. Seems the aerodrome could not be sold off, not at any price while that runway remained. Anyone else heard a similar story??.
Folks,
I can personally vouch for this as a fact, I was at the meeting, called by BAL. The speaker who let the cat out of the bag was the then GM of the airport company.
The words were clear, several members of the audience questioned the speaker, to make certain that they were "hearing right". They were!!
Of course, this means that the "consultation" (which seems to have largely been with Airservices and CASA, not aviation businesses on the airport) was, in my opinion, a sham.
Tootle pip!!
PS: I love the "Department's" advice to the RRAT Committee, that for a student pilot, Goulburn, Mittagong and Warnervale are suitable alternates for a student pilot -- who has done no navigation training --- even if the average C-152 has the fuel endurance, and that is presuming that the weather that creates the excessive X-wind at YSBK is not also precluding VFR in and out of the Sydney basin.
In my opinion, this is as silly as the original advice, which was that a pilot could just declare an emergency and divert to Kingsford-Smith.