Member for Bowman, Henry Pike has rebuked new inner-City Green MPs for seeking to push aircraft noise away from Brisbane suburbs and over the Redlands.
Mr Pike’s call comes after a review of Brisbane Airport flight paths commissioned by Airservices Australia was released this week, recommending further options be considered including redirecting existing departure routes towards the Redlands.
“Shifting the problem of aircraft noise onto our bayside community is totally unacceptable to me and to the residents of the Redlands,” Mr Pike said.
“Redland residents chose to live here for a quieter lifestyle, while inner-city residents chose to live where they live for more convenience and the hustle-and-bustle.”
“One of my first items of business on being elected as the federal member was to receive a comprehensive briefing from Brisbane Airport Corporation on the flight path review process.”
“For the first time ever, I have appointed a Redlands representative to the Brisbane Airport Community Aviation Consultation Group (BACACG).”
BACACG meets quarterly to bring together government, the community, and the aviation industry to discuss Brisbane Airport development, operations, terminal access and aircraft noise.
“The final report calls for consideration of more flights over the bay where possible, but the underlying assumption seems to be that nobody lives beyond the Brisbane City Council borders,” Mr Pike said.
“The review process will be ongoing, and there will be an array of community consultation which will now run for a long period of time, but my message will be clear – I will not accept any erosion in the amenity of the Redlands.”
The three new Brisbane based Greens MPs have called for a reworking of the Brisbane Airport flight paths to limit noise over inner city suburbs, and for a curfew on airport operations. They have promised to move a private members bill to achieve these outcomes before the end of this parliamentary term.
“I will be keeping an extremely close eye on this situation on behalf of my community and will push-back strongly on any proposal that is not in the best interests of the Redlands,” Mr Pike said.