2022-12-12 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA   12 DECEMBER 2022




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GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                              12 DECEMBER 2022

            ATTACHMENT 8

                                                                               AVIATION

                                               Vv

               22 November 2022

               Dear Clare, Noosa Councillors, and Sandy,

               | understand that the future of Teewah Airstrip is once again under discussion. Can | reiterate our
               perspective on the usefulness and opportunities which the airstrip provides for the community in
               general and McDermott Aviation in particular.

               Teewah forms a small, but essential, component of the preparation of aircraft and crews associated
               with our emergency services work. This underpins much of the employment and revenue into the
               Shire from Australia and round the world. We have used Teewah - with a very light touch - for many
               years, primarily for training of winch crews and fire fighting pilots. We use the area in the
               immediate vicinity of the strip around 20 times a year with very infrequent touchdown landings
               although the strip does provide for a safety emergency landing area in the event of something going
               wrong during training. We do not carry out any night flying. For safety reasons this training needs
               to be carried out in open areas clear of buildings, powerlines and other infrastructure and as clear of
               populous areas as possible. This is about the only area like this in the shire.

               The airstrip was also an essential staging post during the 2019 bushfires on the north shore for
               aircraft and evacuation of people. Given the huge public usage of the park in that area it provides a
               safe emergency assembly and evacuation area in the event of another bushfire emergency.

               The issue of the future of the airstrip seems to come around on a regular basis but we see the need
               for it becoming more important with the increasing park usage and the increasing use of helicopters
               for high risk emergency services operations. Please let me know if you require a briefing from us
               during your discussions.

               Thank you and regards,

           4     Jobo  cDermott
               CEO
               McDermott Aviation

                               Phone: (07) 5447 G60O_—     Postal: PO Box GOO Cooroy QLD 4563
                                                www.mecdermottaviation.com.au
                                                          ABN 30 010 505 567

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