Isn't the one opposite Crown Casino council owned, but operated by a third party - is it Heliserv, formerly managed by MicroFlite? This is the one I was advised that doesn't allow 44's.
Admittedly the MF pads were far more utilized yesterday than the other one, with a string of mostly foreign tourists lining up for a jolly.
As for risk, I would rather be enjoying my pleasure craft on the river (making limited noise) and not have a helicopter blindly reverse over me 30ft above my head. I'm not an informed aviation participant in this instance.
Note: This video has nothing to do with any reversing "incident"
https://youtu.be/tN3Ejs7mIw8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5Y2LojhEgM
Stopping once every ten minutes for a helicopter takeoff is nothing compared to the loud music from the restaurants across the river on the Southbank Boulevard, which were able to be clearly heard at the pad!
The problem is that people enjoy music as it's entertaining. Some spinning helicopter blades and a turbine engine whining away for 5 minutes at a time plus takeoff is unfortunately only entertaining for those international tourists sitting in the cabin wearing a Bose headset.
I'm a pilot and have been for quite a few years and I can see both sides of the argument. For people here to suggest that air traffic in the CBD is not noisy, are barking up the wrong tree and have probably rarely even been in there.