ORANGE City Council has overwhelming support from the community for the proposed $13.9 million Orange Airport expansion, according to the chair of the Aerodrome Committee.
Cr Chris Gryllis attended the first of three information sessions that saw 35 residents from Orange, Molong, Huntley and Spring Hill drop in to discuss the expansion.
“It’s one of the few projects where there’s so much encouragement,” he said.
While concerns were raised about the environmental impact and the increased noise, the majority of residents welcomed the project, Cr Gryllis said.
Council spokesman Nick Redmond said people at the meeting were split into three groups - those who opposed the expansion, those who wanted it to begin as soon as possible and those who had some concerns.
Issues were raised regarding noise and dust during construction, the noise caused by the increased flights after expansion and the impact on property values.
“There was a large group that were not strictly opposed to it, they saw the justification and the need but they wanted to make sure there was some mitigation in place so their properties and houses were not impacted by the expansion,” he said.
“One guy said we should be going bigger.”
Interested residents still have an opportunity to submit their feedback to the project’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) at two additional information sessions at the Spring Hill hall today from 10am to noon and on Monday, May 7, from 6pm to 8pm at the Canobolas Zone Rural Fire Service on the corner of Cadia and Forest Roads.
clare.colley@ruralpress.com