Parking, growth, challenges in latest draft Merimbula Airport master plan

There are changes and challenges flagged in the draft document in order to accommodate growth in population and consequent growth in air travel both commercial and private (general aviation - GA).

It is with this latter group in mind that council has allocated areas of the current site to GA.

Council's acting manager project development, Sam Watson said the master plan was a forward-looking document.

"We are using current trends and extrapolating 20 years from now to determine what the site might need to look like in the future," Mr Watson said.

However for some airport users changes will come much sooner with several businesses having effectively been given eviction notifications for June this year.

Squizzy's Tyres and More and Merimbula Aircraft Maintenance are understood to have received notification that their leases will not be renewed.

Council has its eyes on the aircraft maintenance site for expansion of parking or car rental business.

The draft document estimated between 400 and 470 public parking spaces could be found depending on how the area currently occupied by Merimbula Aircraft Maintenance is used.

"If the current hangar building is retained, that could be repurposed for rental car overnight storage and valet, with approximate 10-15 external spaces available for either public parking or reserved for rental car collection/return. If the building is removed and the area dedicated to public parking, then around 65-70 spaces are possible in this area," the document states.

While there is little doubt that additional car parking is an urgent issue, council's wish to see significant growth in GA may be affected by not having an aircraft maintenance facility on site, something that has been in operation since 1994.

Council has constructed a new hangar precinct for commercial and private general aviation users. The precinct provides taxiway access for up to 15 small light aircraft hangars, two medium sized hangars and three larger hangars.

Mr Watson said the development was challenging on a site constrained by the Merimbula Lake on one side and the Tasman Sea on the other. Challenges have included stormwater drainage and the high water table. The airport reopened after a reseal on March 25, 2022.

Council expects passenger numbers to move considerably from 61,000 in 2019 to a possible total annual passenger traffic for 2043 of around 300,000 passengers.

Visit council's the Have Your Say webpage to learn more and view the draft master plan.