2015 St Finbar’s P and F Submission
St Finbar’s P&F committee recently responded to the Federal government announcement to build a 2nd airport less than 30km away at Badgery’s Creek. An Environmental Impact statement (EIS) was released in October 2015. It proposed a point merge flight system over Blaxland which cause students at St Finbar’s to be exposed to 1 plane every 8-12 minutes during the day (approximately 1500m above school buildings) and 1 plane every 20 minutes at night. This increased to a plane every 4-5 minutes daily and every 8 minutes at night when the first runway was expected to reach full capacity. Whilst our group is neither FOR nor AGAINST a 2nd Sydney airport, it was essential that school and preschool communities in the Blue Mountains and Western Sydney continue to be aware and informed on this proposed development. We felt that we had an obligation to engage with our political representatives to ensure they act on our concerns regarding children.
As a result the 2015 St Finbar’s P&F committee completed a formal submission in response to the EIS. It outlined concerns and issues with the EIS and offered alternative suggestions that could be considered. Please read the attached document 2015 St Finbar’s P&F submission for more detail.
2015 Official Combined P and C document that St Finbar’s P and F supported
In November 2015, Mrs McFadzean and the St Finbar’s P&F went on to host a meeting of other concerned Parent committees from local preschools and school. Over 60 people attended and as a result 17 St Finbar’s P&F parents committee alongside 16 others from Lower Blue Mountains schools and preschools signed a joint submission. Whilst it was neither FOR nor AGAINST a 2nd Sydney airport, it again highlighted united concerns over the negative impact upon the health, cognitive development, learning and wellbeing of children affected by the proposed Badgerys Creek Airport. It was presented to Federal MP Louise Markus and sent into the Federal Government as part of the formal submission process. Please refer to 2015 Official Combined P&C document that contains detailed references.
2016 flights map with political changes
Attached is a map that shows suburbs and predicted noise impacts regarding the proposed 2nd Sydney airport. Both Liberal and Labor politicians have recently announced changes to flight paths but there is no detail and the public consultation period is over. This means the government of the day can impose whatever flight paths and airport procedures they want without consulting the public. The 2016 St Finbar’s P&F along with the other 16 P&C Parent’s committees have again joined in calling for more protections for children and arguing for the same safeguards that protect children near Kingsford Smith Airport (including a curfew, 80 plane limit/cap per hour, rotating of flight paths etc). Letters have been sent to our political representatives and Upper Mountains P&F committees have bene invited to join our group. We are in the process of contacting all parent committees from Western Sydney schools.
