Blue Mountains News

Blue Mountains City Council Mayor Mark Greenhill said since first proposed more than a decade ago, Council has strongly advocated against any adverse impact on quality of life, or the environment, that the Western Sydney Airport may have.

“The release of the EIS today for the Western Sydney International Airport flight paths had no surprises. We’ve had the draft flight paths form some time now,” Cr Greenhill said.

“A statement released today by The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, The Hon Catherine King MP, calls out the Blue Mountains and the potential impacts on our unique part of the world.

“I welcome this acknowledgement. We are a special place. The Blue Mountains is one of only two cities in the world within a UNESCO-declared World Heritage Area.

“Banff, in Canada is the other, and they are subject to strong restrictions around aircraft movements. The Blue Mountains should be treated in the same way.

“There are strong arguments to minimise flight paths over the Blue Mountains both in the day and night. Australia needs to respect that we are different.

“Opposition to the Western Sydney Airport has always been Council’s position and continues to be so.

“We as a community, need to come together to present a strong voice to try and minimise the impact of the flight paths on our unique community and environment.

“We support a curfew however, it must be remembered that day flights run until 11pm at night. This will change the quality of life of tens of thousands in the Blue Mountains.I urge the community to provide voice their concerns by providing a submission on the draft EIS.”

The EIS will be on public exhibition from now until 31 January 2024.

People can make a submission through one of three ways:

• online through the flight paths community portal at here
• by email to %67%210%198%236%214%118
• by mail to the WSI Flight Path Team at GPO Box 594, Canberra ACT 2601.

For people who do not have internet access, information about the draft EIS including two physical copies of the EIS will be available at Springwood and Katoomba libraries. Information about the draft EIS will also be available at Council’s Customer Service Centres at Katoomba and Springwood.