The Ballarat airport and its neighbours could soon be reconnected to the rest of the city, as runway extension works continue.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The runway works cut through the existing Airport Road, which will eventually be permanently closed - but the works can't be finished until a new connection road is built.
That road is planned to be an extension of Liberator Drive, one of the main roads in the Ballarat West Employment Zone that's sat as a dead-end for several years.
The original plan, from council and the state government's Development Victoria, was to continue Liberator Drive south around the extended runway, then north through the Ballarat Light Car Club's track to reconnect near the airport's entrance.
The Light Car Club has been at the track for more than 40 years, and has been seeking clarity on how the new road will affect them since it was announced.
The process has dragged on for several years, but this week a heritage application was made that could finally get the road finished.
The application is to remove 18 trees along Airport Road, which are covered by a heritage permit and marked as "culturally significant" - six Monterey cypress and 12 Monterey pines.
"If the Liberator Drive extension remains incomplete, the Airport runway extension cannot be finished or opened which presents poor outcomes for all levels of government," a supporting letter in the application states.
"(The) City of Ballarat will be unable to continue the delivery of their approved Ballarat Airport Masterplan, the state government will be unable to continue with the staged delivery of BWEZ industrial lots, and the federal government would not achieve the outcome envisioned by the grant provided to facilitate the airport runway extension."
It's the second swing at the intersection design, which would mean building Liberator Drive over Residence Road where there's an existing T-intersection, and potentially avoiding the Light Car Club's facilities.
While Development Victoria could not explicitly confirm the car club will be allowed to continue under the new plan, the new alignment is in response to Civil Aviation Safety Authority regulations.
Club member motorsport complex relocation spokesperson Wayne Drew said it was a "positive" move.
"What the outcome will be, I'm not sure," he said.
"It's an improved position and while it doesn't give us security, it may allow us to stay there for the foreseeable future.
"Our club is not against the development of the airport and the whole area, but it's just really sad we have to be a pawn in that game and may lose our complex as a consequence - I don't think that's a very fair thing
Development Victoria is paying for the road, and precincts group head Niall Cunningham said in a statement the agency will "continue to work closely with the City of Ballarat to finalise the program of works that will deliver the extension of Liberator Drive which will become the primary access to Ballarat Airport".
Council acknowledged the extension works will mean the club "will be impacted", development and growth director Natalie Robertson said in a statement.
"The City of Ballarat has been working with the Light Car Club to assist in their relocation from their current Crown Land site," she said.
It's not clear when works would begin, if the heritage permit for the tree removal is approved.
