$40 million investment confirmed for Port Hedland airport

Alexander ScottNorth West Telegraph
Camera IconA helicopter takes off from Port Hedland International Airport. Credit: North West Telegraph

The new master plan for Port Hedland International Airport reveals a $40 million investment over the next three years for a terminal redevelopment and a bulk-hauling complex.

Town of Port Hedland commissioner Fred Riebeling has approved the blueprint and capital works program for the site.

A draft master plan was submitted to the council in March 2018 and has been subject to several reviews since, including one by planning consultant agency Airbiz.

The latest change to the plan was for the airport to provide detailed information on noise-standard mapping, to be approved by the government-owned air navigation service provider Air Services.

An agenda report by a council officer said the current noise-standard mapping in the plan was not detailed enough.

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Mr Riebeling said the noise plan was not a significant problem and the company had six months to get it approved.

“That was the only part of the plan that was identified by our independent experts, it hadn’t been addressed properly, and they will be in the process now of fixing that,” he said. The capital works program details the upgrades and the estimated timeline, with the terminal redevelopment forecast for 2019-2021 while the highway precinct is forecast for development in 2019.

Mr Riebeling said the works program was the precursor to development applications being lodged by the council.

“This is opening the door to starting improvements on our airport, which as most people who go through there know, there’s a lot of work to be done,” he said.

Mr Riebeling said the faster the airport could get the required $40 million, the quicker its services and facilities would be improved.

“They have leased the airport and that area for 50 years, and there’s one thing for sure when companies do that, is that they will be trying to maximise the commercial viability of the area, and that’s what they are trying to do,” he said.

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