A message from the Mayor - Mildura Airport
Published on 14 September 2015
The Mildura Airport has become the economic and social gateway to our region. Investors, bankers, managers and other business representatives rely on the daily access to and from capital cities that our airport provides.
The investment into our community that comes via the airport runs into the tens of millions of dollars and seems destined to continue and grow in the years to come. The airport also provides our citizens with access to Broken Hill, Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and connecting flights to the world as well as access to the general aviation pilots that fly in from all over Australia and our own local pilots.
We access relatives, business connections, sporting events, holiday destinations, health services and more via the airport. With 212,000 passenger movements a year the importance cannot be overstated.
Mildura Airport Pty Ltd (MAPL) and Mildura Rural City Council have applied for $10 million in grant funding from the Federal Government's National Stronger Regions funding program to help fund the $20 million upgrade to the airport’s main runway requires.
The runway pavement has exceeded its projected life and there is now an urgent need to increase its load bearing capacity, bringing it up to the standard required to carry the larger aircraft that now regularly fly into Mildura.
With the support of Member for Mallee, Andrew Broad, MAPL Chair, Peter O'Donnell and I were afforded meetings with Federal MP Jamie Briggs and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development in Canberra last week.
The meetings allowed us to reinforce the crucial role the airport and air travel play in the economic development and wellbeing of our region and the urgent need for supporting funding for the runway. While there were no indications of what the eventual outcome of the funding round will be, we were pleased that we had the opportunity to once again stress our case in the strongest terms to those that will eventually lead the decision making process.
Given that Bendigo received $5 million funding for their airport and Port Macquarie received $15 million for a $21 million project with similar passenger numbers to Mildura I believe it is critical for us to expect support for the Mildura Airport.
Letters to relevant Ministers and Parliamentarians from business leaders and community members backing this project would certainly help convey the importance of the project. Council and MAPL will continue to lobby where and when possible in our efforts to gain the required funds.
Cr Glenn Milne
Mayor