Stuart Henry (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to speak on the proposal to build a brickworks at the Perth Airport. Along with many thousands of Hasluck constituents and residents of surrounding areas, I am fundamentally opposed to this development. My constituents do not see that a heavy and noxious industry, such as a brickworks, is in any way consistent with appropriate development on airport land.

On reviewing the Perth Airport Master Plan, we find, in section 2.2 ‘Development objectives’, under the heading ‘Environmental compatibility’ it is stated:

The airport will adopt a good neighbour philosophy and consult adjacent communities in its planning process.

Section 6.3 ‘Commercial development’ states:

The approved 1999 Master Plan defined general types of development which are comparable with the airport operations and with land uses of the adjacent communities.

A brickworks is very clearly not comparable with airport operations but is a heavy industry producing noxious emissions. A brickworks is also not comparable with ‘land uses of the adjacent communities’. Land use in the surrounding communities is largely residential, light industrial, warehousing, distribution and transport centres.

Section 13.2 ‘Objectives’ states that the plan ‘respects and supports current regional and local planning principles and concerns and ‘respects and supports the planning efforts of airport neighbours such as the City of Swan, the City of Belmont, and the Shire of Kalamunda’.

Section 13.3 ‘Development opportunities’ and section 13.4 ‘Development strategy’ refer to business centres, corporate headquarters, education centres, high technology R&D and manufacturing complexes, entertainment centres and logistics hubs, and compatibility with surrounding communities. There is no mention of heavy industry or brickworks.

In section 13.4, under the heading ‘Land use categories’, several land use categories are defined. In clause 6 ‘industrial uses’ is defined as follows:

These uses are activities which may involve manufacturing, distribution and assembly.

Throughout the master plan, Westralia Airports Corporation consistently restates its commitment to appropriate land use, compatible with airport operations, acceptable to adjacent communities and with consideration of state and local government planning objectives.

Westralia Airports Corporation does not reflect this commitment. The proposed brickworks are clearly in contravention of these key objectives. They are not compatible with development in surrounding communities and they do not respect local planning decisions. Indeed, all three local governments—the City of Belmont, City of Swan and Shire of Kalamunda—are strongly opposed to this development.

Letters from concerned constituents with aviation expertise indicate their concern at the aviation risk posed by the brickworks being placed at the end of runway 24/06, directly under the approach path of runway 24 and the departure envelope for runway 06. Given the occurrence of atmospheric inversions and the possibility that the resultant trapped brickworks emissions may occlude the vision of pilots, surely this is a safety risk?

Indeed it would appear that there is some tacit recognition of that—as reported in the Weekend Australian, in an article by Paddy Manning headed ‘Developers take off’. The article said:

... but WAC’s proposal acknowledges the plant could be closed occasionally if fog got too bad.

How do you close down a kiln burning at 1,100 degrees Celsius? According to the same article the former CEO of WAC stated:

... for anyone to suggest we would allow a development that would affect aviation safety is just so ridiculous it doesn’t even warrant comment.

I have been informed that windshear, which causes difficulties at Perth Airport from time to time, may be exacerbated by the operation of a kiln at 1,100 degrees Celsius directly under the approach and departure flight path. The people of Hasluck need a proper explanation of the level of risk. Finally, section 4.1 of the master plan states:

The site for Perth’s premier aerodrome was selected in 1938 as the location of the major airport for the Perth region.

At that time, Perth’s airport was located at Maylands, which by the late 1930s had become inadequate because of its restricted size and the presence of flight path obstructions, mainly brickwork chimneys. I and the other residents of Hasluck trust that Westralia Airports Corporation is willing to learn from the past.