Secret plans to expand Sydney airport
By Janet Parker
While protests by Sydney residents affected by aircraft noise and pollution continue, it has been revealed that the Federal Airports Corporation (FAC) is quietly hatching a plan for a massive expansion of Kingsford Smith Airport. Indications are that the number of stands for aircraft at the international airport could increase by nearly 50%.
While the FAC hotly denies that these plans have anything to do with preparations for the 2000 Olympics, it has acknowledged that a working group called Terminal 21 has been established to assess the capacity of existing facilities to cope with the increased traffic. A major development of existing facilities is likely to occur over the next four years.
Anti-aircraft noise activists have condemned the plans, demanding that they be made available for public scrutiny.
"They [the FAC] are ruthlessly prepared to expand this airport to the limit", No Aircraft Noise Party vice-president Alan Rees said on June 9. "They have taken absolutely no notice of the hundreds of thousands of people outraged by the noise, and it is full steam ahead on this environmental disaster."