THE Cohuna aerodrome looks set to close in two months, failing legal intervention or a council backtrack, following the Gannawarra Shire Council’s formal notice this week that it will relinquish the licence.
The council announced on Wednesday it had given notice to Coliban Water, which owns the Chuggs Rd aerodrome site, that it will discontinue the licence it has held since the mid 1990s at the close of business on September 11.
The announcement followed a controversial council vote last month to offload the lease which was amended to include the proviso that Gannawarra Shire Council work with the community to ensure the aerodrome’s continued operation.
That has apparently not occurred.
In a media statement issued today, Coliban Water’s managing director Damian Wells said the water authority would begin background work on finding a new operator for the facility but was not sure if it would be viable to do so and would not be able to complete an expression of interest process for potential new licensees before early December.
“Coliban Water will undertake a due-diligence process including engagement with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and other relevant parties to examine if it’s viable for another party to operate the aerodrome,” managing director Damian Wells was quoted as saying.
“Following the due-diligence process, Coliban Water will then determine if it will run an Expression of Interest process to invite proposals from prospective Aerodrome operators. This process is anticipated to be complete by early December 2020,” the statement said.
As a water authority, Coliban has no experience or expertise in running an airfield and its executives are reportedly extremely unhappy with the situation they have been put in by the Gannawarra Shire Council.
When the issue was under discussion at last month's council meeting Cr Charlie Gillingham said Coliban executives wanted notice of 12 months if the airstrip's five-year lease - which was signed in January last year - were to be broken.
However, the corporation has committed to trying to keep the facility operational.
“We know how important the aerodrome is to the community, and we’d be happy to explore the option to lease the land to a suitable third-party to continue operation,” Mr Wells said.
Meanwhile, the Cohuna Aviation Club said it hopes to soon have a legal injunction in place which would prevent the council ending the lease until after the October local government elections.
The Gannawarra Shire Council was contacted for comment.