Environment Minister Andrew Powell says the previous Government’s conversion of the Teewah airfield to national park has caused apparently impossible problems with keeping it open, even for emergency and fire fighting purposes.
He was responding to a petition “to allow the Teewah Airfield to remain in its current configuration; including use by emergency
services and for evacuations, helicopter training, and recreational sports aviation clubs.”
Mr Powell said the issue dated back to November 2021, when trusteeship of the former landing ground reserve was transferred from the
Noosa Shire Council to the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation.
The former Government had added the site to the Great Sandy National Park in 2024.
This had progressed “without a clear plan to support the transition of the users of the site.
The petition to save the airfield gathered 3260 signatures.
The petition preamble said the airfield, between Lake Cootharaba and the coastline, had existed for 79 years
Principal petitioner, Noosa North Shore Association president and former rural fire officer Peter Upton said the airfield provided important safety facilities “in bush fire, cyclone and flood emergencies.”
The airfield also provided “a substantial fire break, a safe, secure and protected area for people, native animals and native birds to congregate, an evacuation centre with all facilities for overnight accommodation, facilities and an area for emergency services to operate from in comfort and safety, a landing area for helicopters for emergencies and evacuations (and) a staging area for emergency services including patient care and firefighting via helicopters.”
