A CALL on Sutherland Shire Council to support Badgerys Creek as the site of a future second Sydney airport has been grounded.
Councillor Phil Blight submitted a motion at the May 28 council meeting calling for the council to officially support the Badgerys Creek option. It follows the release of the joint study on aviation capacity for the Sydney Region in March, which said Badgerys Creek remained the best site for a second airport.
Cr Blight said that until the second airport was in operation, the shire would suffer from problems such as traffic and increased noise. "Traffic around the airport will be past the capacity of existing road junctions by 2015, impacting traffic back to the M5 and General Holmes Drive, affecting all traffic from the shire," he said.
"The overcrowding of flights from [Sydney Airport] will reduce the capacity to noise share.
"About 55 per cent of flights travel over Kurnell and Cronulla. In future, that will increase to at least 80 to 90 per cent.
"Badgerys Creek will be much quicker and cheaper to build. The joint study expects about 40 per cent of flights will eventually use the new airport."
Cr Kevin Schreiber supported Cr Blight's call. "If we don't get another airport started soon we will be hammered into the ground by aircraft noise," he said.
But Cr Kent Johns spoke against the motion.
"It is a state and federal government matter and should not be something that is debated on council," he said. "It has no impact on Sutherland Shire and shouldn't be debated here.
"If I was on Penrith or Campbelltown councils I would find it offensive for another council area that is unaffected to try to make a decision on a matter that affects their residents.
"How would our residents feel if Penrith Council moved a resolution that the curfew at Mascot should be dropped?"
Councillors voted 7-7 on the motion before mayor Carol Provan used a casting vote to defeat it.
Should Sutherland Shire Council have supported the Badgerys Creek option?