VACANT land in Wilberforce has been placed on the interest list for the location of Sydney’s second airport according to a federal study.
Wilberforce was selected as one of five sites which offered the best potential for a new airport.
According to the study, Wilberforce has been selected as it has been seen as more suitable as a single runway airport — type three — which would serve all market segments.
The study stated that “the best ranking site in the quantitative assessment” was Wilberforce in the Hawkesbury locality.
“Its main advantage was also proximity to potential demand including nearby commercial growth opportunities. Its main disadvantages were noise impacts on communities and sensitive uses as well as the potential social impacts of land acquisition,” the study stated.
‘‘A type three site (single runway) located at Wilberforce would require its runway alignment to be parallel or near parallel to RAAF Base Richmond with coordinated control between the two airports in order to operate both of the facilities.
“A type one (full service) airport located at Wilberforce is likely to require closure of RAAF Base Richmond or relocation of RAAF activities to the Wilberforce site,” it stated.
The news of the interest in Wilberforce followed the leaking of the government’s white paper last week, that said Richmond RAAF Base may face closure.
