THE official handover of the Cohuna airfield to the Lions Club of Cohuna on Wednesday was heralded as a great outcome for the community.
A 20-year licence agreement came into effect between Coliban Water and the new management group – a sub-committee of the Lions Club of Cohuna that includes members of the Lions, the Cohuna Model Flying Club and aircraft and hangar owners.
“We’re very pleased that we’ve seen the community step up, particularly under the leadership of the Lions Club,” Coliban Water executive Steven Healey, who was representing the landholder, said.
“It’s been a fantastic effort. We’ve all worked together – Gannawarra Shire, Coliban Water, Lions Club, Model Flying Club, the hangar owners and aircraft owners, and it’s a great outcome for the community to keep this aerodrome operating seamlessly.”
Following a Gannawarra Shire Council decision in June to stop managing the aerodrome, the council set an initial end date of September 11, which threatened the continuing operation of the Chuggs Road facility.
The council extended the deadline to September 30.
Cohuna Lions president Anthony Troy said the club’s involvement stemmed from a desire to see the airfield stay open for both air ambulance access and local use.
“We believe this is a really important asset for the region, one that was too important to lose,” he said.
“There’s been a lot of dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s. As of today it’s all done.”
Local doctor and hangar owner Peter Barker said he was delighted by the new management arrangements.
“The community has come together in such a strong and rapid way to get it all sorted,” he said.
“It’s probably a more cohesive group now than it ever has been before.”
Dr Barker said the sub-committee was confident of being able to find funding to maintain the facility.
“We think it’s going to cost probably $10,000 or 12,000 a year to run it at a minimum without improvements, so we’re going to be hunting grants but we think we’re organised enough to do that, and it’s a very optimistic outlook for the future,” he said.
Dr Barker said the new management group had a long-term plan to extend the runway.
He said an Air Ambulance crew who landed at Cohuna a fortnight ago to collect a sick baby said it would be easier to land if the runway was longer.
Freshly re-elected Cohuna Flying Club president Lyndon Clifford also mentioned plans for an upgrade of the airfield.
“We hope it can be progressed and we can spend a bit of money on it if we can get some money – to lengthen the runway like they were talking about doing before and maybe get a better spot down here for the air ambulance to park and [improve] the clubhouse,” he said.
Gannawarra Shire Council mayor Lorraine Learmonth described the new management model as “great for the
community and for flying in the area, both model and fixed-wing aircraft”.
“Because it’s community run now, more
people might be interested in flying,” she said.
Gananwarra Shire Council chief executive officer Tom O’Reilly said he thought it was “the best possible
outcome”.
According to Mr Troy, the new management group is one of approximately 60 community groups around Australia that are managing airfields.
