Air show action plan needed to avoid chaos

By Alex Arnold
Updated November 6 2012 - 12:00am, first published March 17 2010 - 10:24am
A crowd of more than 35,000 turned out to enjoy a performance by The Roulettes at Wings over Illawarra last month.
A crowd of more than 35,000 turned out to enjoy a performance by The Roulettes at Wings over Illawarra last month.

In just four years Wings Over Illawarra has become one of the region's biggest attractions, but it is not without its growing pains.The event, enjoyed by a crowd of more than 35,000 this year, is jointly run by Shellharbour City Council and the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society, based at Illawarra Regional Airport.After last month's show concerns were raised about traffic volumes and the day's classification as an "open day" rather than an "air show".The RTA and police have both raised the congestion issue with the council after those attending the event and weekend holiday motorists caused traffic chaos.The authorities highlighted a need for an action plan for future events.Meantime, Albion Park activist Sonya McKay has taken her concerns to the Prime Minister, among others. Ms McKay said there were concerns about the noise generated on the day by the F/A 18 Hornet fighter as well as safety issues which could result from the event being classified as an open day, rather than air show.Ms McKay said Wings Over Illawarra 2010 should have been deemed an air show or an "air display" under Civil Aviation Safety Authority guidelines.CASA would then have had more input into the day, she said."If council did not deem an event that was so obviously an air show, an air show, and something went wrong, what public liability issues would have arisen?" Ms McKay asked.Shellharbour council's director of operations and services, Arthur Webster, said Wings Over Illawarra was not an air show as it did not have CASA approval for civilian aircraft to perform aerobatic displays.He said Defence aircraft, which did perform on the day, did not come under CASA regulations, while historical aircraft such as Connie (the Lockheed Super Constellation) were restricted in what they could do.Mr Webster said traffic was an issue and next year people would be encouraged to make use of train services to Albion Park Rail, with additional services to be requested."The event is gaining more and more patronage and is now one of the biggest functions in the Illawarra," Mr Webster said."We need to plan on a larger scale than in the past and we will do that.""It is a continuous learning process ... the day is fulfilling a need and we will continue to work to make sure the event has a sustainable future."Mr Webster said CASA was fully informed about the day's activities."This year we had about half a dozen complaints, but there are many benefits," he said.

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