The Federal Government has launched yet another study into the location of a second airport for Sydney, following speculation that RAAF Richmond may become a temporary overflow commercial airport, possibly so that it can conveniently avoid naming the site in its aviation white paper to be released next month.

 

Federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese said the Federal and New South Wales Governments have agreed to conduct a joint study to assess options, identify potential sites and evaluate investment strategies for delivering additional airport capacity.

 

“The study’s final terms of reference will be outlined in the National Aviation Policy White Paper, which will be released shortly.

 

“This joint study will look at ways of providing integrated transport solutions for the existing airport as well as additional airport capacity. 

 

“It will also consider the future of the Badgery’s Creek site, given the government has ruled it out as an option for a second airport. This will focus on how the site can provide a stimulus for jobs and economic development for western Sydney.

 

“In the meantime, the Government will not engage in speculation about individual locations,” the minister said.

 

The statement comes after speculation surfaced that RAAF Richmond may be turned into a temporary commercial airport. This was followed by a public outcry, and The Sydney Morning Herald had this to say in its editorial:

 

“The Rudd Government's aviation white paper is expected to suggest that Richmond RAAF base be used as a temporary commercial airport for Sydney while the search for a permanent second airport site continues. The appropriate response to this is surely gales of laughter. In Sydney, as everyone knows, when it comes to planning, temporary means permanent. If Richmond is once used as a second commercial airport, it will stay that way. That may be no bad thing, of course - although the site is relatively constrained by nearby development - but it is as well to have no illusions about it. After more than 60 years of attempts to find a second airport site for the city, Sydney residents know that politics, not planning principles or common sense, guides decisions on airports.

 

“Richmond has been considered twice before as a site for a second airport - in 1969 and 1977 - and was passed over on both occasions. But there are reasons why it may be back in the aviation planners' sights. A comparison with the third runway at Sydney Airport shows why. The last major attempt to build a second airport was the Hawke government's 1986 decision to go ahead with Badgerys Creek. The decision was announced, land bought, and work started. Then it became clear that the project would be vastly more expensive than the quicker option - the third runway at the existing airport, where terminals, transport connections and service facilities already existed.”

 

The government’s aviation white paper is due out before the end of the year.