Business Case for the SunShine CoaSt airport Master Plan

Business Case for the Sunshine Coast Airport n Master Plan (November 2009)
Council – GHD Consulting Engineers).
Then, as now, the relocation of the
airport is seen as neither desirable nor
feasible for the following reasons.
Existing Infrastructure
There is significant public and
private investment in access roads
(new access to the airport from the
Sunshine Motorway was completed
in 2009 at a cost of $220 million),
utilities and telecommunications,
aviation support facilities and flight
training. Consistent with Infrastructure
Australia’s theme 5: Transforming
our Cites, considerable benefit is
seen in retaining the airport in its
current location so as to realise
the full value of existing public and
private investments and avoiding
the unnecessary duplication of
infrastructure.
Community Impact
The Sunshine Coast has experienced
rapid growth in recent decades
creating not only increases in
demand for aviation services but a
corresponding contraction in the
areas where a new airport could be
constructed without having major
social and environmental impacts.
The majority of the existing 300,000
residents of the Sunshine Coast
have made decisions about where
to live and work based on a range of
factors, including their likely proximity
to, and impacts from major items of
infrastructure, including the airport.
The relocation of the airport would
therefore have significant social
impact.
Acquisition of Land
The acquisition of the land area
required for a new airport (approx 350
hectares) would be an expensive and
lengthy undertaking. It is highly likely
political support for such a proposal
would not be forthcoming even if
it were somehow deemed to be
practically achievable.
Cost
The cost of relocation would
be substantially more than the
redevelopment of the existing facility
when the complexity, duration
and extent of the land acquisition
process, the replacement of existing
infrastructure, and redundancy of
private investment is considered.
Convenience
The current location of the airport is
relatively central to the population
and the tourist destinations of the
Sunshine Coast. Importantly, it is very
conveniently located in respect to
Maroochydore which is designated
under the SEQ Regional Plan as
the principal activity centre on the
Sunshine Coast.
Terrain
The Sunshine Coast Hinterland
consists of undulating to very
steep terrain, unsuitable for airport
construction and operation.
Accordingly, only the relatively narrow
band of the coastal plain is available
for the consideration of alternate
sites. This however coincides with
the location of most of the predicted
population growth on the Sunshine
Coast, with a projected 70 per cent
growth in population size expected in
the period 2006-2031.
Other
The constraints on relocation of
the airport were confirmed again
in 2007 in an investigation by
GHD Engineering on behalf of the
Queensland Government in relation
to investigations into the replacement
of Caloundra Aerodrome. The study
concluded there were no suitable
sites even for a small general aviation
airport north of Caloundra.
05.1.4 Extension of Existing
Runway
Runway 18/36 is 1,797 metres long
and 30 metres wide with 3 metre
sealed shoulders. The total runway
strip width is 150 metres, making
it a Code 3C per Civil Aviation
Safety Authority (CASA) Manual of
Standards Part 139 – Aerodromes
(MoS Part 139).
The runway is bordered by
residential development to the north,
south and east and by the airport
terminal and parking areas to the
west.
Runway 18/36 is generally
sufficient for A320-200 and
B737-700/800/900 domestic flight
operations at Maximum Take-off
Weight (MTOW) except on high
temperature days where loads are
constrained by up to 20 passengers.
However, due to the runway length,
trans-Tasman operations by these
aircraft may only be possible at
reduced payloads.
Extending runway 18/36 was
considered in the Preliminary Draft
Master Plan. However due to
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