A planned emergency services aviation hub, for which the budget has blown out by up to $60 million dollars, could undergo a redesign in coming months.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
At least $60 million dollars needs to be cut from the proposed budget, which experts estimated could be up to $90 million dollars.
The state’s Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley will work with experts to determine what cuts can be made to get the project off the ground. Mr Lapsley said hub should not be ruled out and hoped a decision on its future would be made in the first quarter of 2017.
“It’s landed well above budget – between $70 and $100 million dollars, and we will look into why in 2017,” Mr Lapsley said.
“The original estimate was somewhere in the $30 million mark. Whether it has overdesign, or over engineering – all those things, we are going to have to revisit.”
The Courier understands plans to store large air-tankers (LATS) has contributed to the budget blow-out. If built, the hub would become a central emergency services airport which would store major aircraft used to service the state and South Australia.
Mr Lapsley said some requirements set by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority had contributed to the high cost of the project.
He said safety requirements had to be met and the authority would seek to determine if the initial budget of $33 million had been an underestimate.
“We still believe a Ballarat aviation hub would be a huge benefit to Ballarat and the state,” Mr Lapsley said.
“In saying that, there are still nine months of year,” Mr Lapsley said.
“So how do you make it more versatile?”
EMV will look at some aspects – including an additional taxi area – and determine if they are necessary for the hub.
“It’s got an extra taxi area for the aircraft to taxi down,” Mr Lapsley said.
“We’re sort of saying, does that need to be done? Is it over specced to achieve the outcome we want?”
A lack of air traffic and central location makes Ballarat the choice location for a the airport hub, Mr Lapsley said.
“Out of Ballarat we get better footprint to fly everywhere, including South Australia,” Mr Lapsley said.
“With Avalon you are competing with Tullamarine. That’s why Ballarat is better.”