Blue Mountains residents gathered at a public forum hosted by Blue Mountains City Council on 10 September, to register concern about the recently released flight paths of the Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport.
The forum heard from a panel of experts including Matt Shepherd, an aviation specialist from To70 and the lead airspace designer for the preliminary flight paths, and Alex Morabito of Marshall Day Acoustics who has been engaged by The Parks to undertake a technical review on the new flight path design and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the airport.
Blue Mountains Mayor, Cr Mark Greenhill, said: "Since first proposed more than a decade ago, Council has strongly advocated against any adverse impact on quality of life, or the environment, that the Western Sydney Airport may have.
"Opposition to the Western Sydney Airport has always been Council's position and continues to be so."
Mayor Greenhill told those assembled that it's unlawful to fly planes over Banff, in Canada, which is the only other City in the World situated in a UNESCO-declared World Heritage Area.
"If it's good enough for Banff, then it's good enough for the Blue Mountains - not to have planes flying over."
Susan Templeman MP, Member for Macquarie, who was a panellist at the forum, said: "We've got this information months before the formal EIS process begins so that we have had a chance to absorb it.
"Now I have advocated for that… as I saw it as the best advantage we have to fully understand what is being put forward… so we can determine how we respond. So I look forward to your thoughts and your questions."
The forum heard how extensive community feedback, primarily from the Blue Mountains community after the draft EIS was released in 2015, led to the scrapping of the single merge point above Blaxland.
Matt Shepherd, the lead airspace designer for the redrafted preliminary flight paths for the new airport, said flight paths were concentrated to the north-west. This was due to the Sydney basin not being considered due to current flights out of Kingsford Smith Airport and Bankstown Airport.
Peter Dollin of Residents Against Western Sydney Airport, who was also a panellist, said: "The flight paths are preliminary… and we can make a difference.
"We need to make our voices heard… our objection at the dismissive approach to flight path and noise planning, that ignores our special and vulnerable environment and communities. We need to maintain our rage."
Attendees were urged to submit their feedback directly to the Flight Paths team at the Department of Infrastructure.
Mayor, Councillor Mark Greenhill, said: "Whilst we have never rescinded our opposition to the airport, we must also be realistic. The airport is being built. It will soon be operational. We cannot change that.
"Which is why now is the time to refocus our advocacy and activism towards what we can change. And what we can change is the flight paths.
To access information about the airport, its flightpaths and proposed operations, visit www.wsiflightpaths.gov.au/.
To submit your feedback to the Federal Government on the flight paths go to: https://www.wsiflightpaths.gov.au/feedback-form.
You can also provide feedback to Susan Templeman at https://www.susantempleman.com.au/have-your-say/community-survey/.
Photos: The public forum hosted by Blue Mountains City Council on the Western Sydney International Airport.
