Kyneton Airfield hangar owners will now enter new lease agreements with Macedon Ranges council.
The new leases were endorsed at the September 24 council meeting, and will be standardised for all hangar owners at the site, with the previous agreements varying in size allocations and terms.
The new terms will be for 10 years, with a 10 year add-on option, an includes negotiations for a lease termination period within a range of two and five years as part of finalising the lease terms.
The new lease agreements have gone through significant community consultation, which saw 56 people respond with 66 per cent of the respondents agreeing with the key terms in the new lease agreement.
Councillor Cassy Borthwick said negotiations on the lease agreements have been underway for some time in a bid to make them fairer across the board.
“Throughout this process, several anomalies have been identified including significant variations in lease rates,” she said.
“Some are under $2 per square metre, while others are paying over $9. These disparities highlight the need for a fair and consistent approach.”
The new standardised market rental rate will be $5 per square metre for all lease agreements.
This figure was reduced from $6 after significant community feedback from the hangar owners, to take into account the outgoings tenants must pay for rates and insurance.
Council also said the $5 rate per square metre will yield about $30,000 per annum in rental income for council from the 34 privately owned hangars currently leased at the site.
Under the proposed lease terms, this rental income will also have an annual increase of three per cent, fixed for five years with a market review at the end of the fifth year.
Councillor Daniel Young welcomed the resolution for hangar owners.
“It’s a shame it has taken so long and it has been such an issue for awhile for some of the people at the airfield. It’s been pretty stressful for the group,” he said.
“So I’m glad we’re finally at a point where we can see some light at the end of the tunnel.”
