Sounds like, ‘if you can’t beat a lobby group, join it.’ i.e. ensure the club is represented on the local council or whatever organisations are a threat.
Yes, Canberra forefathers bought freehold title to an undulating paddock at Bunyan near Cooma that we use as our airfield. We have developed several hangers, a house etc and the club owns a Pawnee and four gliders, with variously > 15 private gliders. Bunyan is a great site with summer thermals and fantastic wave flights to FL 245 dozens of times p.a. in airspace we have negotiated. You are welcome to share it, and our annual wave camp is late in August 2017. But we have to pay rates, maintain the land, mow the field, contribute to the local emergency fire services, accede to local ordinances on most things a farmer has to join, control weed, noxious, vermin, fences and a wide range of issues and expenses not the remit of lodgers or directly related to gliding. We would like the runways to be like golf fairways, but we don’t have professional greenkeepers, ground staff, equipment or water, only volunteers in a drought. And even light cold mix bitumen costs more than a glider and would have to be maintained. We even had a neighbor build his house very close to our 30 year old runway centerline. And our comment to the council notice was met with a retort that such issues were not associated with their design approval and monitoring processes. We had a major powerline across a runway threshold but managed to negotiate relocation during its redevelopment, but at some cost to the club. While the club pays rates etc., next to no members are rate payers in the local area. The club is incorporated in the ACT yet operates in NSW. Life was not meant to be easy, but we have managed for 50 years. Be careful what you wish for… or …. you could always be part of the club, bring your glider, and assist further development of the Canberra Gliding Club. Alan Wilson Canberra Sent from Pavillion From: Aus-soaring [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Grant Davies Sent: Tuesday, 8 August 2017 3:16 PM To: 'Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.' Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] the future of gliding Bundaberg Gliding Club has faced a similar situation. A change of Government saw the field transfer from Forestry (from whom a lease was granted for the past 50 years) to Nature Park. Can't have an airfield in a Nature Park so re-gazetted to Conservation Park. State wants us to have a license over the area through DNRM. State then decides Conservation Park is also the wrong tenure. To complicate matters there is a Native Title Claim over the land. We have asked the Native Title Claimants if they would exclude the field from the claim. Not keen to start with but have finally come around when DNRM told them they considered the land to have had Native Title extinguished. Slight argy bargy over boundaries to same. State still not sure what tenure to put the land in. We told them Freehold was best, after Native Title Claimants formally exclude the strip from their claim. The saga continues but the end goal is to get the land freehold in the name of the Bundaberg Gliding Club. Kindest Regards Grant From: Aus-soaring [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Daryl Mackay Sent: Tuesday, 08 August 2017 14:32 To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] the future of gliding It was apparently 1AFLD a week that was closed down in the USA some 10 years ago. Meigs had to be one of the most controversial and to late deemed to have been illegal. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field On 8 Aug. 2017 11:35 am, "Ben Coleman" <[email protected]> wrote: Hunter Valley GC would have been obliterated years ago if not for the foresight of the early members to buy the property. It would seem it's not just gliding that is threatened, many small airfields seem to have been closed over the past decade, at least out this way. Cheers Ben On Tue, Aug 8, 2017 at 1:17 PM, Daryl Mackay <[email protected]> wrote: Seem to remember reading about this in Australian Gliding when the Canberra Gliding Club came to the same conclusion 30 plus years ago. Something along the lines "one day only clubs that owned their AFLDs would exist into the future." Their current membership might like to elaborate on their forefathers wise decision to relocate back then. Daryl On 7 Aug. 2017 6:41 pm, "Peter Champness" <[email protected]> wrote: Thanks Harry, I agree that we need security of tenure over where we conduct gliding operations. In Melbourne we want to secure tenure over the Bacchus Marsh airfield.. I hope that we can do, that. On Mon, Aug 7, 2017 at 8:37 PM, Harry Medlicott <[email protected]> wrote: Hi All, It was almost inevitable. Money hungry councils without a great deal of interest in gliding, sooner or later decide that perhaps if they can get rid of all the users then then real estate value of the property is worth millions or just because they wish to cover the maintenance cost of their property, that it is a good idea to squeeze as much money as they can from those selfish, filthy rich aviators who are small in number and contribute little to the community. I have always thought it would be good publicity as well as a genuine contribution to society if gliding clubs organised regular charity events, perhaps in conjunction with service clubs such as rotary or lions. Entirely on the basis that the club(s) would make absolutely nothing from the exercise except community goodwill and perhaps gain new members. At my home club, Lake Keepit, the charity to support could be the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service which is well supported and regarded locally. Another worthwhile idea would be to try and get glider pilot representation on the local council. Of more importance the GFA should investigate the possibility of purchasing land suitable for use as a gliding field about no more than an hours driving distance from, for a start, Sydney and Melbourne. I can imagine the shock, horror of the powers that be at this suggestion. Not the GFAs business, we are merely an umbrella organisation to supervise the efforts of gliding clubs. Am afraid that the future of gliding, certainly in NSW and Victoria depends on having a secure future from which to conduct operations. Not affordable? Not sure about that. We spend considerable amounts on other aspects of gliding which might have to be curtailed while funds were expended on funding sites. Once the land was secure am sure clubs would migrate their operations to such a site over a period of time. There may be other ways to achieve this. It may be that a council would give a very long term lease or security of occupation at a predetermined cost. The long term future of gliding depends on having security of tenure over where we conduct operations. The GFA should take the initiative in achieving this. It is probably beyond the resources of an individual club. Harry Medlicott _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] http://lists.base64.com.au/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] http://lists.base64.com.au/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] http://lists.base64.com.au/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] http://lists.base64.com.au/listinfo/aus-soaring
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