Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Introduction
These Guidelines for Community Aviation Consultation Groups (‘the Guidelines’) are
intended to assist those involved in establishing, running and participating in Community
Aviation Consultation Groups for the leased federal airports subject to Commonwealth
planning.1
In the 2009 National Aviation Policy White Paper,2 the Commonwealth Government
indicated these airports would be required to establish Community Aviation Consultation
Groups to ensure appropriate community engagement on airport planning and operations.
Accordingly, leased federal airports now have a responsibility to establish and maintain
permanent Community Aviation Consultation Groups. Background on the White Paper is
attached.
The 21 leased federal airports vary in size and activity, have distinct community interests, and
have different development and operational requirements with specific plans underpinning
those requirements. The arrangements put in place for one Community Aviation Consultation
Group will not necessarily be appropriate for another. Of course, many airports already have
consultative mechanisms in place (such as the Sydney Airport Community Forum). These
Guidelines are intended to be sufficiently flexible for each airport to implement good
consultation arrangements, specific to its circumstances, and to ensure the arrangements
evolve and improve over time.
• enable airport operators, residents in the vicinity of the airport, local authorities,
airport users, and other interested parties to exchange information and ideas;
• allow concerns to be raised and taken into account by the airport operator, with a
genuine desire to resolve issues that may emerge; and
• complement and support the consultative requirements of the regulatory and planning
framework within which the airport operates.
1
These airports are currently Adelaide, Archerfield, Alice Springs, Bankstown, Brisbane, Camden, Canberra,
Darwin, Essendon, Gold Coast, Hobart, Jandakot, Launceston, Melbourne, Moorabbin, Parafield, Perth, Sydney,
and Townsville.
2
The White Paper is available at <infrastructure.gov.au/aviation/nap>.
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• unnecessarily constrain the duty of the airport operator to effectively and responsibly
manage the airport;
• prevent interested parties from raising concerns directly with the airport, or through
other channels, at any time.
The terms of reference of the Community Aviation Consultation Group should be formulated
to allow it to consider all matters arising from the operation of the airport. The exact terms of
reference will be at the discretion of the Community Aviation Consultation Group itself, but
could cover:
• existing and proposed airport development and operations, and steps being taken to
implement or develop the airport’s Master Plan;
• proposals to develop or change aviation services;
• noise (including aircraft noise) and environmental issues;
• ground transport and access issues;
• planning, regulatory, and policy matters affecting the airport;
• improvements or changes to airport facilities;
• discussion of complaints-handling procedures;
• reports from Airservices Australia and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority; and
• the contribution of the airport to the local, regional and national economy.
Independent Chair
Airports should work closely with neighbouring local councils and others to identify and
engage an appropriate person to chair the Community Aviation Consultation Group. If
possible, the Community Aviation Consultation Group itself should be involved in the
selection process. To ensure continuity in the operation of the committee it is desirable for the
Chair to be appointed for a minimum period.
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The independent conduct of the Chair is critical for the effective functioning of the
Community Aviation Consultation Group. An independent Chair will:
Any relevant interests, arrangements and associations of the Chair should be disclosed.
Secretariat
The necessary secretarial support will depend upon the size of the Community Aviation
Consultation Group and the volume and nature of the business handled. The duties of the
secretariat would be expected to include:
Membership
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While the size and membership of the Community Aviation Consultation Group will depend
upon local circumstances, it should be both manageable and sufficient to achieve its
objectives. Community organisations or resident groups should be properly incorporated and
represent residents not already on the Community Aviation Consultation Group.
The groups represented will vary between airports. For example, users of an airport that has a
mixture of regular public transport (RPT) and general aviation (GA) functions may
potentially cover a wider spectrum than either a major RPT airport or small, exclusively GA
aerodrome. The scale of interest from the local community and local authorities is also likely
to be more significant at larger airports in proportion to the wider geographic area affected by
airport operations.
The role of airport management in relation to the Community Aviation Consultation Group
There are formal procedures for recording and responding to complaints about airport
operations, aircraft noise, airport development, ground traffic issues, and other issues
affecting airport users and nearby communities. These arrangements should be well
publicised.
An airport or another party may suggest that a complainant who is dissatisfied with the
airport’s response on a matter of wider interest could contact the Community Aviation
Consultation Group to raise the matter for discussion. However, it is important to stress that
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ATTACHMENT
In the 2009 National Aviation Policy White Paper (‘the White Paper’), the Commonwealth
announced several improvements to the consultative requirements for airport operations and
development.
Each airport will also be required to notify the community of all building applications on the
airport site, regardless of their scale or significance, by publishing them on the airport
website. This will require notification of all constructions and developments, including those
not captured by a Major Development Plan process.
Finally, the major capital city airports (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide,
Perth, Darwin and Canberra) will also be required to establish Planning Coordination Forums
with off-airport planning authorities (from the relevant local, state, and/or territory
governments, and the Commonwealth). Planning Coordination Forums will act as the vehicle
to lead constructive ongoing dialogue on matters such as Master Plans, the airport’s program
for proposed on-airport developments, regional planning initiatives, off-airport development
approvals, and significant ground transport developments that could affect the airport and its
transport connections.
All of these initiatives will work together with the existing public comment requirements for
Master Plans and Major Development Plans in order to promote improved transparency,
coordination and integration of planning occurring at the airport, as well as that occurring
around the airport.
These Guidelines should therefore be seen as an integrated part of this comprehensive airport
planning framework.
In relation to Community Aviation Consultation Groups, the White Paper stated that their
purpose would be to:
• provide a forum for the exchange of information and ideas between airport operators,
the community, governments, users and other relevant stakeholders;
• allow the concerns of interested parties to be raised and taken into account by airport
operators, thereby fostering a sense of collaboration, empowerment and transparency
in decision-making; and
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In recognition of the variety of community and operational contexts that different airports
operate within, each lessee company shall have the flexibility to define the scope and
membership of the Community Aviation Consultation Groups, as long as the following
core prescribed conditions are met:
In relation to the role of Community Aviation Consultation Groups, the White Paper stated:
Some airports expressed the view that community consultation groups would work better
if other industry stakeholders, including airlines, Airservices Australia and the Civil
Aviation Safety Authority, were also represented. Airports would be responsible for
determining membership of the Groups and are encouraged to establish appropriate
consultation arrangements with other relevant industry stakeholders. In exercising this
freedom to select members, airports would be expected to ensure that a representative
cross-section of community interests would also be included.
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