Kyneton residents have another chance to either back the town’s airfield expansion or tell the council what’s wrong with its masterplan.
A proliferation of privately owned hangars has been a point of contention in recent years, with a public backlash over the council’s expansion plans and the noise associated with the airfield’s growth and plans for a night landing strip.
The airport is on the Kyneton Metcalfe Road, which runs parallel to the Calder Freeway on the town’s northern fringe. Council agreed at its August meeting to put the Kyneton airfield masterplan out for public comment for a second time.
Planning director Sophie Segafredo said the council had agreed to use the draft masterplan as a guide to the site’s expansion.
She said the development of an operating plan and equipment to forecast noise emissions are still needed before the masterplan could be adopted.
“I want to assure the community that the process has reached a point – but it’s not a final point,” Ms Segafredo said. “As we discussed …we’ve been giving serious consideration to how the airfield might take up the opportunities to expand.
“That will be dependant on understanding the operations and the noise impacts that it’s likely to have on the town, and the other residential farming buildings in the surrounding area.”
Ms Segafredo said a number of changes had been made to the masterplan as it was exhibited, and it was important that residents consider these changes before forming opinions.
She said the council has clarified that the CFA do not intend to use the airfield for fixed wing aircraft.
“It was important to recognise that, and there are some changes in the masterplan that identify that … we will be exploring that to a great degree with the CFA projects that occur from here.”
Daylesford and Macedon Ranges Tourism Association chair Noel Harvey said the airfield was a “valuable community asset”.
“It’s the only airfield in our region,” Mr Harvey, who lives nearby, said.
