Tuesday 3 August Mayor Cr Chris Meddows-Taylor Message

Published on 03 August 2021

During the Council election campaign last year it was very clear that the future of the Maryborough Aerodrome was a key issue in our community.

The newly elected Council made this an immediate priority and before Christmas convened an Aerodrome stakeholder forum. The forum concluded that the Aerodrome offered significant opportunity for our community, although it was recognised that various issues were holding that opportunity back, including lease arrangements.

In recent months a massive amount of work has taken place to enable us to settle these impediments and plan how we might plan the Aerodrome’s future to best support our community, including capturing the real competitive capabilities it offers. Untapped opportunities include business, tourism, lifestyle and health and emergency services. Flight training is a definite potential high value opportunity.

Council decided the best way to capture the range of opportunities the Aerodrome offers and ensure benefit to the community, was through an expert community task force.

Last week Council appointed the members of that task force which will be chaired by Neil Arbuthnot. We were delighted by the quality of the appointees and the capabilities they offer. The challenge of providing key guidance and advice on a new business plan and revised master plan is substantial. The task force is absolutely up to that responsibility.

With this development, we enter into a new exciting phase for Maryborough Aerodrome enabling Council to take the right decisions for the future, but importantly for the community to fully realise its immense potential.