The location of a new factory planned by BGC is up in the air after the Perth Airport blocked a building application by the private group on land it leased in 2006.
The location of a new factory planned by BGC is up in the air after the Perth Airport blocked a building application by the private group on land it leased in 2006.
Len Buckeridge’s building group wants to build a 24,800-square metre factory on a site at the north-eastern corner of the airport precinct but has been told the building would impinge on future runway extensions, which were meant to be 18 years away at the earliest.
In the latest master plan for the airport, the site proposed for BGC’s factory appears to lie within an area needed for high-intensity approach lighting if an 877m extension of an existing 2,163m runway to the north-east took place (see circled area on adjacent map).
While the airport has been stretched in recent years by passenger numbers well above those forecast, the master plan from 2009 said it was considered unlikely any of the major runway development options would be needed within the 20-year outlook of the review.
The master plan also shows extending the airports main north-south runway and a new parallel runway on the eastern side of the international terminal are other runway development options.
The airport told WA Business News it was continuing to monitor passenger growth but its development position within the time period defined in the master plan had not changed.
Clearly angry and frustrated by the development block, BGC founder Mr Buckeridge confirmed he had been negotiating with the airport over his plans for a pre-fabricated housing factory near his existing brickworks.
Mr Buckeridge said his company was never warned about constraints on the site when it entered into the lease.
“The lease says it is not required for airport purposes,” he said.
The issue had been further compounded by more recent discussions with airport management, which Mr Buckeridge claimed assured him of approval to go ahead after making minor modifications.
He said he went ahead and ordered major inputs such as steel only to have the plan blocked.
The airport confirmed it was considering a building application received on November 26 to develop part of the 32 hectares of land BGC leased for 41 years in 2006 with an option of renewal of a further 49 years.
According to Perth Airport’s annual report, domestic and international passenger numbers were almost 10.5 million for the year to June 30, nearly 900,000 or more than 9 per cent above the level forecast in April 2008 by the federal government’s Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics based on figures from 2005-06.
In fact, the airport traffic has beaten forecasts three out of four years since 2005-06, with the exception being 2008-09, the worst of the global financial crisis when Perth Airport’s passenger growth was just slightly below forecast.
The growth in traffic, including significant intrastate flights caused by the growth in fly-in-fly-out mining workers, has caused much angst for passengers.
Business leaders have been frequent critics of the airport’s constraints and appear to remain so, despite recently completed upgrades of the domestic terminal’s road and drop-off systems and planned major developments of the surrounding highways and a new terminal.
Last week, BHP Billiton Iron Ore vice-president planning Tony Ottaviano raised the issue at the Global Iron Ore and Steel Forecast conference in Perth, pointing out that one of the challenges of expanding his company’s operations was the impact on already strained public infrastructure, including airports.
“A number of delegates have flown here today from interstate and overseas and you have seen Perth airport at peak times and the international at peak times,” Mr Ottaviano said.
“Enough said.”
