Community & Business
14 November, 2024
Private-public partnership brings aerodrome back to life
Aerodrome re-opens
The region has saved one of its dwindling handful of aerodromes thanks to community spirit, bloody hard work and a couple of very fat grants. A $200,000 boost was announced by the MP Janelle Saffin last week, with the NSW government kicking in in response to awareness that help, when disaster hits, often comes from the skies.
The Tenterfield aerodrome was built by council in 1967 and was used for many years for businesses, training, agriculture spraying, air ambulances but due to chronic fund shortages, the facility “had really been allowed to run down,” says Rob Evans, president of the Friends of the Tenterfield Aerodrome.
Rob, who often flies for Angel Flight Australia, and a couple of other local pilots decided to act, forming the not-for-profit charitable organisation (FOTA), spending thousands of hours signing up members, fundraising and grant writing.
“The council couldn’t see any real use for it. So, they decided two years ago to put it up for sale.,” explains Rob. He and pilot Peter Jones decided if the airport was sold and redeveloped that wasn’t “an acceptable situation.”
“We got up and said we’d form an association, to keep the airport in the community, and the community rose up with us. We just got as much publicity as we could with Tenterfield Star, 10 FM, Facebook, and sitting in the car park outside Coles and talking to people and signing up members. Very much a grassroots thing - the people of Tenterfield are very supportive.”
Today, there are more than 200 FOTA members and 1700 followers of the group’s Facebook page.
The aim of the group is two-fold: to keep the shire, which is notoriously fire-prone, in readiness for firefighting at the highest capacity possible and, secondly, contribute to the economic development of the shire by attracting flight schools, air mechanics, tourism and other pilots to the area. FOTA signed a 30-year lease and won a $50,000 grant for a large capacity water tank for firefighting. Ms Saffin called it a “vital investment” in the facility.
“We’d like to be able to bring people and business into the shire. You can only get here by road, no railway, no air services, so the airport should be a real gateway to Tenterfield for tourism and business.”
The FOTA committee is very hands-on. “We operate the airstrip on behalf of the people of Tenterfield, to provide emergency response and evacuations.
Since then, FOTA has received funds to install solar, improve the taxiways and fuel supplies so that firefighting aircraft could quickly refuel and reload in a disaster.
“We had our first test within a day or so of the water tank going in, we had all sorts of pumps – this was in 2023, we were able to fight fires in Wallangarra and Jennings.”
Last month, the aerodrome was put to the test fighting fires in Billrimba. Peter Jones flew an air tractor having just returned to Australia from fighting fires in Greece.
“We were able to demonstrate we could turn a fire bomber around and load it up with water in less than 5 minutes,” says Rob, who trained pilots for many years in Brisbane, bringing them to Tenterfield to “learn to land on a bumpy grass runway.”
“We have had discussions with flying schools to offer flight training here, we’ve had another business that’s interested in building hangars to have their aircraft here or set up aircraft maintenance.”
The next grant will be used to put up kangaroo fencing to keep the landing strip safe. Rob explains that the Rural Flying Doctor service or the Westpac air ambulance need to transfer patients from a safe area. Currently, patients in critical condition need to endure a long ambulance transfer to Stanthorpe or Glenn Innes.
Rob thanks MP Saffin, the Tenterfield Shire council and the residents of the area for unwavering support.
“It’s really quite rewarding,” he says modestly.
