I would like to point out that the airport’s industrial project should never have gotten to the stage it is at now.

In 2008, Orange, Blayney and Cabonne councils spent a lot of money identifying suitable land for future industry; the airport area was not included in this document.

Interestingly, Orange council did not bother to inform Blayney or Cabonne of their intentions.

Now council has to liaise with the other councils to carry out a proper review of the document.

This will not be cheap, nor will it guarantee that Orange council will succeed in their intentions.

The State Government has spent a lot of money identifying high value soils.

State money has also been spent identifying prime agricultural land and other natural assets we have in our area of which the airport is part.

So what is the value of any of these expensive documents if no one takes any notice of them?

The average person would expect this information to be taken into account and adhered to when decisions are being made.

And, of course, we employ highly-paid people to ensure they are followed.

Did the councillors who voted for this project know about the existence of these documents? Did they read and understand the full proposal put before them? I suspect not.

I hope our new council has the strength of character to not let their workload rush their decision making.

Regards,