Hars Connie in Aus Av.
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Heard something about the choppers getting booted around April - this despite being the only operator that pays full commercial rates on the airfield. Figure that one out...
Join Date: Feb 2004
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Good one Shellharbour
Seems this place needs a shake up!
There was trouble in the pipe line when I was down there flying, and it seems that the council officers won't let up. The last I heard was the council wanted HARS to get the hangar for a maintaince facility last year when the schools last lease came up for renewal. When the helicopter school got the hangar back for another year, the council officer involved was livid, as HARS are still out in the chilly winds with nothing but frame work on their own hangar.
That place appears to be turning into the field of welfare with nearly all the oganisations getting council support of some type or another, but the rest on tender hooks everyday with the promise of being thrown off the place!
If you want the prospects of starting a business in Wollongong, having a five year lease with NO option to keep your business after that, then welcome! welcome! welcome!
Keep your chins up down there, and don't let the get you down!
As if GA ain't hard enough to make a living in........
FF.
There was trouble in the pipe line when I was down there flying, and it seems that the council officers won't let up. The last I heard was the council wanted HARS to get the hangar for a maintaince facility last year when the schools last lease came up for renewal. When the helicopter school got the hangar back for another year, the council officer involved was livid, as HARS are still out in the chilly winds with nothing but frame work on their own hangar.
That place appears to be turning into the field of welfare with nearly all the oganisations getting council support of some type or another, but the rest on tender hooks everyday with the promise of being thrown off the place!
If you want the prospects of starting a business in Wollongong, having a five year lease with NO option to keep your business after that, then welcome! welcome! welcome!
Keep your chins up down there, and don't let the
get you down!As if GA ain't hard enough to make a living in........
FF.
Join Date: Dec 2004
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**News Flash**
Just read an article in the Illawarra Mercury about the woes befalling the helicopter operator in the 'Gong..appears the stories about a council vendetta are correct. Spoke with 'a representative' of the organisation concerned this morning and have been told that the matter is now before the Ombudsman, relevent Minister and has even had Little Johnny in contact with Bob Carr seeking some answers!
This could be a stoush worth watching!
Good luck fellas and keep smiling!
This could be a stoush worth watching!Good luck fellas and keep smiling!
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Update
Was aksed over the weekend to review the case and inspect supporting evidence of interferrence and council's running smear campaign against the heli operator at Wollongong from "an outsiders' point of view. Believe you me; this issue is quite BIG and deep seated! Over the past 5 years, this operator has been singled out and had certain fees increased by a whopping 120% (in one go) whilst all other airfield users received a 10% increase for the exact same services. These increases were payback! They have had cameras installed by council through airservices specifically targetting their business operations and council has run a campaign of smears through claims of unsafe operations with CASA (all unfounded). They have even had council installing equipment on their building which had absolutely nothing to do with their operations, and then council expecting the business to pick up 90% of the running costs. There is more! The evidence supporting a vendetta and payback is substantial and quite scary - I think the only feasible result here is the immediate appointment of an administrator to this council and a thorough and complete investigation by ICAC!
Good luck fells; appears you'll need every bit of it!
Good luck fells; appears you'll need every bit of it!
Update
Join Date: May 2002
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Back to original thread.....
I bit the bullet last week and paid a visit to HARS at the Albion Park Airport and must admit, I too was very sadly disappointed. The place really is just a scrap yard with very little enthusiasm from anyone in attendance. I cannot see for the life of me how they could survive with so little patronage and really only open for 2 days of the week. I was invited to join but had to decline...couple of grand for a newsletter and a ride in a bucket of bolts masquerading as an aeoplane was a bit rich. I did quizz one chap on what had been written on here and he said "we are not allowed to participate in that website so I cannot comment, but we do all have a peek occasionally cause we find out more from there than the HeadShed is prepared to tell us".
See, whoever said Pprune wasn't informative?
See, whoever said Pprune wasn't informative?
Join Date: Feb 2004
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All seems to be hotting up in the Illawarra......
Herd from a reliable gossip columnist yesterday that there appears to be one councillor and two council personnal that have rolled over and are assisting authorities with investigations on the hangar issues on the airport.
With the issue raised in the mockery during the preceding week and other national media crews now wanting in, it may make for interesting times in the near future for the SCC.
FF.
Herd from a reliable gossip columnist yesterday that there appears to be one councillor and two council personnal that have rolled over and are assisting authorities with investigations on the hangar issues on the airport.
With the issue raised in the mockery during the preceding week and other national media crews now wanting in, it may make for interesting times in the near future for the SCC.
FF.
Thread Starter
With all due respect, I didn't start this thread to bash the living hell out of HARS.
I did however ask a valid question or two of those who are involved within HARS to which it would appear have been largely ignored for whatever reason.
We do not live in a police state (well, not just yet anyway), so find it hard to believe that they are not permitted to post freely in their own time, and of their own experiences.
I would ask that those wishing to post on this thread about these other matters that the thread has encompassed, please desist and start your own thread, don't use this one.
Ta....
OpsN
I did however ask a valid question or two of those who are involved within HARS to which it would appear have been largely ignored for whatever reason.
We do not live in a police state (well, not just yet anyway), so find it hard to believe that they are not permitted to post freely in their own time, and of their own experiences.
I would ask that those wishing to post on this thread about these other matters that the thread has encompassed, please desist and start your own thread, don't use this one.
Ta....
OpsN
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Ops Normal,
In the overall picture it appears that the HARS situation and the other situations on the airport are related on one way or another.
We all know that HARS is at the foot of a large hill in their struggle to keep those large aircraft in the air, and we all wish them the very best in addressing the problem. But this problem with the council and the other operator was festering when HARS arrived at the airport and word has it that an unnamed council officer offered the hangar in question to HARS as a maintaince facility when the other operation was to be ejected last year. I personally think that while HARS are "the innocent party" in all the problems at the airport, they are involved up to their belly buttons.
I too would like to see all the bitching and scratching go away, but it's not going to happen while there are businesses getting wrongly shafted, while other businesses are getting a dream run from the persons holding the rod!
Happy Flying,
FF.
In the overall picture it appears that the HARS situation and the other situations on the airport are related on one way or another.
We all know that HARS is at the foot of a large hill in their struggle to keep those large aircraft in the air, and we all wish them the very best in addressing the problem. But this problem with the council and the other operator was festering when HARS arrived at the airport and word has it that an unnamed council officer offered the hangar in question to HARS as a maintaince facility when the other operation was to be ejected last year. I personally think that while HARS are "the innocent party" in all the problems at the airport, they are involved up to their belly buttons.
I too would like to see all the bitching and scratching go away, but it's not going to happen while there are businesses getting wrongly shafted, while other businesses are getting a dream run from the persons holding the rod!
Happy Flying,
FF.
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On Monday 31/1/05, the Illawarra Mercury ran an article titled “Upgrading runway firmly ‘on horizon’”. Finally, in the article, the President of HARS admitted that the runway was in need of an upgrade as the Constellation was doing damage to the flight strip. The President went on to say that the damage being caused to the strip is ‘minimal’; come on Mr D, closer of the flight strip for inspection after every landing and the cost for repairs now in excess of $50,000 in the past year alone cannot possibly be called minimal? The article also went on to say the GM of Shellharbour Council had told the Deputy Prime Minister some time back that the airfield required an urgent upgrade to encourage an airline to service the Illawarra; a clear exaggeration of the truth. (Impulse serviced the area with B1900’s with the airfield in its present condition for 3 years without any appreciable affect on their operations.) It is about time that council came clean on this issue and told their community that there really is no airline interested in servicing this region for a variety of reasons – least of which is the condition of the flight strip. What they also haven’t told the community is that if an Airline were to service the Illawarra, the costs associated with such a venture would now be almost impossible to justify considering the new security requirements needing to be established prior to any RPT operations being approved. A conservative estimate puts the overall costs at over $M2.5 for security fencing, baggage screening facilities etc etc, so we are really back to square one on this subject – the proposed runway upgrade really is for one aircraft to operate from the Illawarra! When we consider that as yet, this aircraft/operation has not generated one cent for the community of the Illawarra in the past 2 years, we really have to question the value of any such decision to significantly upgrade these facilities for the benefit of such a select few. Thankfully, the reporter for this article has finally seen the light and reports that several of the ideas being floated about the airport are nothing more than “pie in the sky’. Well done Bill!
On a final note, the President goes on to say in the article “that some in the community were pursuing a malicious and vexatious campaign against the airport” I go on record right now stating that my concerns for the airport are anything-but vexatious or malicious. I, like many others in the community, are concerned that ratepayers money (read MY MONEY) is fairly and properly spent and accounted for. I am yet to see one indication that spending $M2 upgrading the flight strip at the airport will bring any tangible benefits to the wider community and until someone shows me otherwise, I will retain that position.
On a final note, the President goes on to say in the article “that some in the community were pursuing a malicious and vexatious campaign against the airport” I go on record right now stating that my concerns for the airport are anything-but vexatious or malicious. I, like many others in the community, are concerned that ratepayers money (read MY MONEY) is fairly and properly spent and accounted for. I am yet to see one indication that spending $M2 upgrading the flight strip at the airport will bring any tangible benefits to the wider community and until someone shows me otherwise, I will retain that position.
Last edited by WINGED WONDER; 8th Feb 2005 at 20:37.
Thread Starter
I asked that you start your own thread as this one now no longer is following the questioning line I started. Some of you don't seem to get it to well.....
W. While I'd hate for everyone to lose what they posted by deleting my original post, would you mind padlocking so that if they need to they can cut and paste what they might need from this thread?
Thanks,
OpsN.
W. While I'd hate for everyone to lose what they posted by deleting my original post, would you mind padlocking so that if they need to they can cut and paste what they might need from this thread?
Thanks,
OpsN.
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OpsNormal - Please?
OpsNormal, I certainly hope you don’t remove your initial entry on this thread or that ‘W’ locks the thread? Your initial questions to HARS sparked some serious debates on the garbage happening at the Illawarra Airport and has caused some in the community to examine more closely the sordid little arrangements in play down there.
It is obvious that the community is not being told the whole truth about what is going on down there at all and afterall, it IS their money that is being thrown around like there is no tomorrow.
Try this little chestnut on for size:
We have just discovered that 2 principles of HARS and 2 others (engineers) have formed a private company to provide maintenance facilities to HARS (and possibly others). Sounds reasonably innocuous on the surface but digging deeper, the true impact of this arrangement becomes apparent.
· The community/members/sponsors build the facilities.
· No cost to the private company!
· HARS pays the rent
· No cost to the private company!
· HARS provides the tooling and GSE
· No cost to the private company!
· The volunteers provide the manpower/workforce.
· No cost to the private company!
· The private company charges HARS for any maintenance carried out!
Not necessarily anything illegal happening here but morally the arrangement is not at all acceptable and I wonder how many of the volunteers/membership/sponsors are aware that their efforts to keep these aircraft flying will also provide a nice little earner to a very select few of their membership?
It is obvious that the community is not being told the whole truth about what is going on down there at all and afterall, it IS their money that is being thrown around like there is no tomorrow.
Try this little chestnut on for size:
We have just discovered that 2 principles of HARS and 2 others (engineers) have formed a private company to provide maintenance facilities to HARS (and possibly others). Sounds reasonably innocuous on the surface but digging deeper, the true impact of this arrangement becomes apparent.
· The community/members/sponsors build the facilities.
· No cost to the private company!
· HARS pays the rent
· No cost to the private company!
· HARS provides the tooling and GSE
· No cost to the private company!
· The volunteers provide the manpower/workforce.
· No cost to the private company!
· The private company charges HARS for any maintenance carried out!
Not necessarily anything illegal happening here but morally the arrangement is not at all acceptable and I wonder how many of the volunteers/membership/sponsors are aware that their efforts to keep these aircraft flying will also provide a nice little earner to a very select few of their membership?
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WW,
Pity you don't join HARS and come to the members briefings. Then you'd know about the other 3 companies which make up the organisation. No doubt further research will achieve results.
I'd suggest you save the shock horror revelations for something meaningful.
BTW, the first hangar is well on the way.
G'day
Pity you don't join HARS and come to the members briefings. Then you'd know about the other 3 companies which make up the organisation. No doubt further research will achieve results.
I'd suggest you save the shock horror revelations for something meaningful.
BTW, the first hangar is well on the way.
G'day
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In the interests of balance and fairness;
We are reliably informed that there was work being performed by several HARS people and whilst the money was going back to HARS, it was clearly outside the bounds of the HARS approval.
The organisation who had previously executed the work, quite rightly, took action with CASA; and HARS given knowledge of it, had taken the appropriate action with the staff concerned.
HARS issues aside might I make the observation to the Winged Wonder that he should support any ugrade to the field if only on the basis that properly promoted and maintained airports actually bring money and business to the local area.
I think it is Orange ??and several others who are spending money upgrading big time and advertising their airports and towns as places in which you need to do business.
In the US every town that is going forward has one and actively compete for the business that serves it.
Build it and they will come.
We are reliably informed that there was work being performed by several HARS people and whilst the money was going back to HARS, it was clearly outside the bounds of the HARS approval.
The organisation who had previously executed the work, quite rightly, took action with CASA; and HARS given knowledge of it, had taken the appropriate action with the staff concerned.
HARS issues aside might I make the observation to the Winged Wonder that he should support any ugrade to the field if only on the basis that properly promoted and maintained airports actually bring money and business to the local area.
I think it is Orange ??and several others who are spending money upgrading big time and advertising their airports and towns as places in which you need to do business.
In the US every town that is going forward has one and actively compete for the business that serves it.
Build it and they will come.
