The Evans Head Aerodrome Committee claims a disaster worse than the Quakers Hill fire could happen, if a retirement village near a local runway gets approved.
Members say the proposed development is at risk of an aviation accident.
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The claim by the mayor of Richmond Valley Council that there is no direct link between the runway and the proposed regional retirement village development for Evans Head even though it is only 130 metres away is nonsense.
The mayor needs to sit down and take a careful look at the substantial safety literature on this issue which shows otherwise.
As to the claim that there is no other site which is big enough, the mayor has never spoken with us so about the matter so he is not in a position to claim that he knows our views. In our view he is guessing about what we think.
Evans Head has a real need for a nursing home, which we support, which is only 6% of the proposed development. There are other places at Evans Head where this could be built and should have been built many years ago. In fact council owns substantial property at Evans Head where the nursing home could have been built 10 years ago. All the rest of the proposal including a swimming pool and men’s shed, duplicates of what we already have, could be built elsewhere if at all. A regional retirement village for northern nsw could be built anywhere. An aerodrome is not an appropriate place for a vulnerable group of people.
The safety issue has not been dealt with despite unsubstantiated assurances from the mayor.
Risk of aircraft accident remains the burning issue for this development. what put the vulnerable elderly in harm’s way.
Dr Richard Gates
President
The Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome Committee Inc.