Sunshine Coast Airport Airspace Changes Runway 13/31

We wanted to provide a short update on our progress in reviewing Draft PIR Report community feedback and the release of the Final PIR Report.

We are in the final stages of assessing the options, taking account of community feedback. Once we complete this assessment, we will release the Final PIR Report along with a Response to Feedback document. We anticipate having this assessment complete within the next few weeks.

We appreciate your patience while we give all suggestions and all feedback full and proper consideration.

Airservices would like to thank the Sunshine Coast community for the feedback provided on the PIR Draft Report.

We received over 500 detailed submissions during the public comment period that we are currently working through.

We intend on providing a further update shortly with next steps and associated timeframes.

Thank you for your feedback to date on the Draft PIR report.

Extension to Feedback Period

We have received requests for additional time to review and provide feedback on the draft report. In response, we have extended the public comment period by two weeks. Submissions on the draft report will now be due by Sunday 26 March 2023.

Additional PIR Draft Report Community Drop-in Session

We are pleased to advise we will now offer an additional PIR Draft Report community drop-in session.

The drop-in sessions are open to community members who have queries or wish to discuss the draft report.

Details:

Date: Monday, 6 March 2023

Time: Anytime between 3:00PM and 7:00PM (We welcome the community to arrive at any time during the four-hour window to discuss the draft report)

Venue: Peregian Beach Community House - 5-7 Rufous St, Peregian Beach QLD 4573

A reminder that we will also be at the North Shore Community Centre on Saturday, 4 March 2023 between 12:00PM and 5:00PM (We welcome the community to arrive at any time during the five-hour window to discuss the draft report).

Registration for the drop-in sessions is not required.

Airservices is please to share the Sunshine Coast Airport Flight Path Changes Post Implementation Review (PIR) Draft Report.

This report presents our recommendations developed over the course of the PIR, guided by community and industry feedback.

The draft report is available here.

The draft report is now available for a four-week public comment period.

Feedback can be provided here.

Please provide feedback by 12 March 2023.

In addition to feedback on the Draft report, we are also interested in receiving feedback on how we can best engage with the Sunshine Coast community on the recommendations that progress through to design and further assessment. What engagement methods and information channels are most effective in your community?

We would like to thank the Sunshine Coast community for participation in the PIR to this point and welcome your feedback on the Draft Report.

PIR Draft Report Community Drop-in Session

The Sunshine Coast community is invited to participate in a Sunshine Coast Airport Flight Path Changes Post Implementation Review (PIR) Draft Report community drop-in session.

The drop-in session is open to community members who have queries or wish to discuss the draft report.

Details:

Date: Saturday, 4 March 2023

Time: Anytime between 12:00PM and 5:00PM (We welcome the community to arrive at any time during the five-hour window to discuss the draft report)

Venue: North Shore Community Centre - 701 David Low Way, Mudjimba QLD 4564

Registration for this drop-in session is not required.

We have been working through the large number of suggestions received from the community and industry for potential improvements to Sunshine Coast Noise Abatement Procedures (NAPs), flight paths and airspace operations. This has included consideration of feedback received at the community meeting held on 15 October 2022 and detailed technical review of a number of potentially feasible options.

We had anticipated releasing the draft report for public comment before the end of 2022, however given the time taken to review all suggestions and in consideration of the Christmas holiday period, we have moved the release of the draft report to early 2023.

The draft report will be available for review and comment for four weeks. We also plan to host a drop-in session for community members to discuss the draft report with us.

In the meantime, we wish you a happy holiday period and we look forward to discussing the draft PIR report with you early in the New Year.

Thank you to all community members who joined the Sunshine Coast Airport Flight Path Changes Post Implementation Review (PIR) community workshop. Your time and feedback is appreciated.

A copy of the presentation is available here.

The Sunshine Coast community is invited to continue to participate in the Sunshine Coast Airport airspace and flight path changes Post Implementation Review (PIR) at a community workshop on 15 October 2022.

The workshop will focus on the PIR to date and the community suggested alternative flight paths/Noise Abatement Procedures (NAPS).

To attend the workshop, please complete the registration form here. Please ensure that you register for the workshop, so that we can track venue capacity. Unregistered attendees will only be permitted entry if numbers permit.

Workshop details:

Date: Saturday, 15 October 2022

Time: 10:30 AM (please try to be at the venue at 10:20AM, to allow for time to find a seat)

Location: North Shore Community Centre (701 David Low Way, Mudjimba QLD 4564)

Duration: The workshop is expected to run for 2 hours

Sunshine Coast residents may be aware that in addition to conducting the Post Implementation Review (PIR) on Sunshine Coast flight paths, Airservices is also conducting a PIR on Brisbane’s new flight paths.

On 22 August 2022, Airservices released the Brisbane New Parallel Runway Flight Paths Post Implementation Review (PIR) Independent Review Final Report by Trax International (Trax) which includes a number of recommendations that have interfaces with the Sunshine Coast airspace.

In reviewing the Sunshine Coast community suggested alternative flight path submissions, we have also identified constraints with Brisbane’s airspace. To get the best possible outcome for both airspace PIRs, we have identified the need to complete these reviews in parallel. This will allow consideration of some suggestions from the Sunshine Coast that would otherwise be ruled out now due to the conflict with current Brisbane airspace operations.

We intend to provide a draft report for Sunshine Coast by the end of 2022. This will identify the suggested alternatives that are considered safe and feasible to progress through the Airservices Airspace Change Program and those that require more detailed consideration in parallel with Brisbane PIR outcomes. A Sunshine Coast community meeting will follow the draft report release to enable detailed discussion of the PIR findings, outcomes and next steps.

We have completed our initial review of the community submissions for suggested flight path changes and noise abatement procedures. Thank you again to all community members who provided a submission.

This initial review has identified the suggestions that are safe and compliant with aviation regulations. We have now commenced the next part of the review which aims to identify the extent of potential improvement or impact each options might result in, in keeping with the assessment criteria provided in the Terms of Reference.

Based on the number of options under review, we anticipate providing a report to the community in July/August 2022. This will be followed by a community meeting to talk through the report findings and next steps, which will include the opportunity to provide feedback on the report. The report will also contain a proposed timeline for implementation of the recommended improvements.

We appreciate the community’s patience while we assess all of the suggestions put forward and we thank them for the effort taken in preparing their submissions.

Airservices would like to thank the Sunshine Coast community for your interest and participation in the PIR to date.

We received a total of 105 community suggested flight path alternatives and a total of 76 community suggested noise abatement procedure submissions. We had anticipated providing a report on the submissions and our assessment in April or May 2022. However, due to the high number of submissions and the detail contained within many of them, we are still completing our review. We will provide an update on the proposed timing of the report and further engagement in June 2022.

We thank you for your patience as we work through your submissions.