According to Armidale Dumaresq Council’s General Manager Shane Burns, pay-for-parking at the Armidale Airport is essential in implementing an Airport Master Plan.
ADC has been considering charging for parking at the airport for over a year now, in response to the need to cover the required loan funding costs associated with implementing an Airport Master Plan. This Plan now has a greater focus due to recent congestion problems and subsequent complaints from the community about not being able to obtain a car space at the airport.
ADC has not been able to implement many of the projects identified in the 2003 Airport Master Plan due to a lack of funding. Some of these projects have become operationally time-critical and must be completed within the next five years.
Last financial year, ADC made a $300,000 profit in airport operations and has placed this profit into a cumulative reserve that now amounts to $2.7m. The cumulative reserve has been set up to offset the required $1m to upgrade lighting, scheduled for this year, and other major maintenance projects. There is a further list of “development” projects amounting to $4.5m that need to be undertaken over the next five years and it will be necessary to raise loans for this work.
“The loans and the subsequent interest must be repaid and this cannot be achieved from the existing airport revenues,” said Mr Burns.
“That is the reason for looking to introduce a user pay-for-parking system expected to raise between $150,000 and $250,000 per year.
“The actual revenues will be dependent on a number of factors, including the proposed adjoining and competing 103-space security car park, as well as any fee concessions given in setting the initial fee structure.”
Mr Burns highlighted that all but one regional airport in northern NSW has implemented, or is in the process of implementing, pay-for-parking, for the same reasons as ADC. He suggested that this is also probably the case for airports of significance in southern NSW and across Australia.
Communities demand a quality facility and service which addresses risks, compliance and safety and unfortunately this comes at a cost.
ADC had the alternatives of increasing passenger fees or seeking the approval of the community for a rate increase, but Council has elected not to do this as the airport should be self-funding. A rate increase would be lengthy and is not guaranteed. In relation to passenger fees, it may be necessary to use these fees to fund further future airport projects and possibly security screening, while attempting to keep the fares affordable.
