In a bid to retain Teewah Airfield a petition has been posted to Queensland Parliament by Noosa North Shore Association president and former rural fire officer Peter Upton and within a week signed by more than 2700 residents.
Mr Upton said the airfield was essential to regional emergency services, was the only place to evacuate residents during emergencies such as bushfires, floods and cyclones and had also been used as a refuge area by wildlife during the 2019 bushfires.
The state government officially transferred the land including the landing reserve to National Park on 20 November 2024 and has told airfield users to leave.
During the 2019 bushfires emergency services used the former Noosa North Shore Landing Reserve as a staging area from which operations were conducted.
North Shore fire warden Mike Hancock said 15-20 fire trucks were based at the reserve along with tankers used to refill the trucks and ambulance officers during the bushfires.
Mr Hancock said the reserve was the only place available for a fire break, it had facilities for emergency officers, it had the capacity for landing a fixed wing aircraft and there was no where else on North Shore authorised to take commercial helicopters, which is required for medical evacuations.
The airfield was gazetted as a landing reserve in 1948 with three runways established in the 1970s.
For more than 20 years the airfield has been home to two resident clubs, the Sunshine Coast Sports Aviators and the Noosa Model Flyers and it has also been used as a helicopter training ground by McDermott Aviation.
The clubs meticulously maintained their premises, mostly with their own money, kept the grass mowed and established council-approved facilities on site.
The former council owned-reserve has been of interest to the State for more than 30 years and recognised by successive parliaments as being of significant value for inclusion into the Great Sandy National Park.
In 1991 a Fitzgerald Commission of Inquiry into the Conservation Management and use of Fraser Island and the Great Sandy Region recommended the Noosa North Shore Landing Ground be closed and added to National Park.
A year later State Cabinet approved the declaration of the Noosa North Shore Landing Ground as National Park on the proviso the areas required for emergency landings or ultra light purposes were retained.
In 2003 Council’s Noosa North Shore Management Plan contained an action to transfer the landing ground to National Park on the proviso that areas contained for emergency landings, ultralight purposes, helicopter training and model aircraft use be retained as a reserve for landing ground purposes or that the whole area be transferred to National Park provided documented evidence was given that the use of the landing ground be allowed to continue.
The small, grass airfield lies within a reserve officially described as lot 7 on plan MCH4562, containing an area of about 428 hectares, as part of Great Sandy National Park. It is predominantly natural closed heath and melaleuca open forest identified as containing very high conservation values.
Noosa Shire Council closed the airstrip in 2014 to helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
Leases for both clubs expired in November 2021 and council notified them of the proposal to transfer trusteeship of the reserve to the state government in November 2022.
The previous state government created a steering committee to support the relocation of the recreational clubs that were granted a two-year transition period after the land transferred to National Park under the Nature Conservation Act 1992, with commitments including financial assistance to help with the relocation of the sports clubs due to their investment in infrastructure on the site.
Having written to the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation Minister on the progress of assistance promised by the former government Noosa MP Sandy Bolton last week posted a response from the Minister to say:
“I understand the Reserve has now transitioned to national park and a steering committee of senior Queensland Government officials is established to consider future options including alternative sites that may be suitable. The steering committee will work with Noosa Shire Council, the clubs and other parties in this process.
“I note the commitment of the former government in regard to funding and can advise that the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation is working on this and will liaise with the clubs directly.”
However Ronald Rimpus of Sunshine Coast Sports Aviators told Noosa Today this week, that the state government informed them there were no alternative sites, suggested they go to airfields at Caboolture or Gympie and said they were responsible for removing their hangar and facilities at their own cost.
“This would bankrupt the club,” he said.
“We are really disappointed.
“It’s a big issue. This is such a vital facility for the people of North Shore.”
“We feel we’ve been ignored,” Mr Hancock said.
“It’s a public emergency issue. It’s very disappointing for us.
“People on land, when the river floods, the wind blows and the ferry closes, the people of Teewah are completely isolated.”
Ms Bolton posted that in response to concerns raised regarding disaster management, the then Minister for Environment wrote in May 2024, that the consultation process in 2023 included targeted discussions with Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) and confirmed that this land is not identified in the QFES Local Area Action Plan as a site for staging fire operations. Several factors excluded the use for this purpose including the impediments associated with access (one way in and out), the location being surrounded by volatile heath vegetation and potentially exposing crews to entrapment threats during wildfires as well as no water being on site.
“The minister further explained that in a declared emergency, fixed wing aircraft would be launched and landed at Kybong (near Gympie) or Caloundra, and as helicopter landing is flexible, emergency helipads are located at Teewah Village and Noosa North Shore Hotel. An incident management team either under QFES or Department of Environment’s direction also have statutory authority to make access decisions over any land for the purpose of managing an emergency, including National Parks.”
The petition was posted on Queensland Parliament on 13 June and closes 24 August.
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