Petition to block the sale of Wondai airfield to developers

[cscotthendry]

Hi:

 

Sorry if this has already been posted but if you're interested

 

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/not-to-sell-or-develop-the-wondai-airport-247open-terminal-building-for-flyers.html

 

 

[turboplanner]

Good start, but while developers always sell properties like this for a mint, they always try to buy them as cheap as dirt.

 

Two things I can think of are:

 

Get together and pool resources to buy the land.

 

Ensure whether the Council intends to sell the land and if so ensure, by public campaigning, an open auction, so there's no doubt what the successful price will be.

 

 

[damkia]

Isn't there something about "continuing use" in relation to the sale of these properties - ie it was an airfield long before there were residences around. I'm sure this or a similar scenario was covered in another thread...

 

 

[turboplanner]

That's Existing Use Rights.

 

You'd need to look up the State Planning Schemes, but usually you qualify if you have owned a property for x amount of years, and you have been doing X, say sawmilling, and the area is rezoned Residential, then all the other people can only build homes but you retain Existing Rights Use as industrial, and you get to stay if you want to.

 

Existing Use Rights stay with the property if they meet the planning scheme definition.

 

Whoever buys the property can give away Existing Rights, so it's of no use to you unless you own the property, or get a fly friendly owner.

 

What I would recommend you do is count up the people flying, find out now before the developer gets his claws in how much the Council wants for the property, see what it would cost you per month for a bank loan of 40, 45, 50 years, divide that up among the flyers, and you might be pleasantly surprised if the airfield is not right in the town.

 

As owners you get the existing rights, you also get income from rentals, hangars, landing fees, you get a Capital Gain, so that if in 20 years development has crept up to the airfield, you will be selling subdivision land, not just a paddock, which will pay for another more upmarket airfield further out.

 

The interest/total price is secondary to x number of members controlling their own field, but you can still do fund raisers, fly-ins, etc to reduce the interest.

 

Loved Wondai, the people down at the service station are great and that big tree looks magnificent in flower.

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

Wondai airstrip is made up of a number of freehold lots and one reserve (looks like it is for drainage).

 

RP83494 Lots 3, 4, 5, 7 & 9

 

FY1831 Lot 233 (runs diagonally across the strip)

 

If it does go up for sale it will be harder to purchase every lot. I have not checked the zoning.

 

Best strategy is to lobby the Councillors to ensure they understand how important the airstrip is and make sure it is used. Assisting with reducing their costs would help. I know of one other strip where the Aero Club undertake nearly all the maintenance (mow, poison, clean toilets, minor maintenance, check strip) which saves the council labour and travel costs. The Council gets the message that it is a used & valued facility.

 

I am not sure that on-line petitions will count for much because "anyone" can sign. The local petition with ratepayer's signatures cuts more mustard.

 

Sue

 

 

[turboplanner]

The petitions generally are an indicator to the Council that "this might not be a pushover", but are generally received with a serious face and filed.

 

If there is no petition, I've seen that raised in Council as a reason to sell the contentious land to their new friend.

 

Offering to manage the airfield under a written agreement is a great idea.