Central Coast Regional Airport Position Statement
RDACC Board Resolution: 7 December 2015
A new regional airport is being established on the NSW Central Coast, just one hour north of Australia’s largest population centre, Sydney.
This is a Wyong Shire Council catalyst project to stimulate regional investment and employment growth, particularly in the higher skilled and professional sectors.
After extensive investigations, Wyong Council has adopted the phased development of Warnervale Aerodrome as the most financially viable option to develop the Central Coast Regional Airport (CCRA).
The CCRA Warnervale will give local and international aviation businesses access to a regional general aviation and passenger airport close to Sydney with existing major road and rail infrastructure links. Council proposes to upgrade the existing aerodrome incrementally in line with real demand from the aviation industry.
As general aviation is squeezed out of the Sydney Basin, the new Central Coast Regional Airport will provide accessible commercial general aviation re/location options close to Sydney. It will also be able to facilitate regional passenger flights to intra/inter-state cities and towns.
There will be a range of commercial general aviation and investment opportunities in the surrounding university, business park, industrial and business zoned land that will develop because of the airport business and its economic activities. Airports generate around 5 indirect jobs for every direct job on the airport and are one of the key drivers of the economy in business development, economic activity and tourism.
The Central Coast Regional Airport will be targeted at general aviation businesses potentially including aircraft charter, maintenance, manufacture, emergency services operations, airborne survey, surveillance and geo-sensing, helicopter operations, commercial flying colleges, corporate and private aircraft. It will also cater for commercial passenger aircraft once fully operational.
Due to the economic development potential of this project the RDACC Board supports Council’s development of a Masterplan for the Central Coast Regional Airport and staged development plan, which will aim to deliver the first passenger flights by 2020.
More information regarding this project can be found here.