Malicious gossip, disgrace, pack of losers and disrespectful were just a few of the words thrown around at a community forum in Boonah. An at times heated community forum on the future of the Boonah airfield was held at the weekend.

Hosted by the Scenic Rim Regional Council and run by Mayor Greg Christensen, about 150 people heard the council standpoint and the Mayor’s view on the negotiations over the future of the airfield.

The Mayor again confirmed there was a new five-year lease being drawn up for the airfield’s management, Boonah Aviation Incorporated (BAI), to replace the current option of extending the lease for a further five years.

The reason for the lease change would be to include a number of amendments such as incorporating all of the runway into the lease.

Cr Christensen said it was his view that … “the accurate lease should be available before the end of the year.” Giving the conditions for further use of the airfield to the operators before March’s Local Government elections.

The Mayor opened the meeting stating that people were misrepresenting him personally and the council as a whole on their positions on the future of the airfield.     And with some early interjections the Mayor called for attendees to respectfully keep their questions for the end.

“Council has very publicly, clearly expressed its support for the value that an airfield Boonah brings, particularly in the recent fire fighting evidence but also to the local economy, the usages that have evolved there have a place to contribute,” Cr Christensen said.

“One of the things we did early on was actually get a safety review so that we had data to inform the conversation about what was and wasn’t happening.

“That provided some clarity, BAI, as far as I’m concerned, have acted on that in the intervening time.”

He said one of the bits of “pure malicious gossip” that had been going around was that council had “designs on that land for other purposes”.

But he said the airfield in the current scheme and future planning scheme has and will be zoned as community use.

“One of the things that does have to be discussed is, is this the best location? Is it the right location looking forward for the next 50 years?

“And if it is, that’s great. What does it take to keep it there? If it’s not? What are the challenges out of that?”

Cr Christensen advocated that the five year lease, and in particular the new review, gave the council a period of time to have that conversation.

“Because if the analysis concludes that over the next 50 years, we need a time frame to go somewhere else - that’s a tough conversation.

“Because there’s a lot of people who’ve invested heavily; there are jobs associated with it; there’s a lot of infrastructure there. It’s not something you would do easily in a short period of time.”

The floor was then handed to the President of the BAI, Mark Bahr, who said he was pleased to hear the Mayor is talking about a 50 year future for the airfield but he was interrupted by the Mayor which sparked a verbal joust.

Cr Christensen: “How many times have I said that to you previously? Quite a few Mark. I’ve said 50 to 100. I’ve said it’s a 100 year asset so I’m disappointed that you’re already going into that sort of space.”.

Mr Bahr: “I’m disappointed you are distorting our last argument, you mentioned 20 years and Ben Morgan [executive director of The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Australia] actually raised the issue of 100 years.”

Cr Christensen said: “Whether it’s 20 years or 30 years, if you haven’t done the proper review, you will get called out by events occurring, because you haven’t thoughtfully planned and prepared for it.”

At the end of his 20 minute address, Cr Christensen called for questions from the floor.

He was asked why it had taken so long for council to address the airfield issue?

Cr Christensen blamed the forthcoming election for the reason the issue had become so “noisy” and called a question from an audience member disrespectful for saying the Mayor thought he was dealing with “a pack of losers.”

“I respect that you might have an interpretation but never suggest that you know what I’m thinking that is very disrespectful.

“Can I please explain, when I got involved in the conversation this year, it was because the conversation had lost its way for a period of time because of some turnover of officers who had been involved and it had slipped to the side.

“And I wanted BAI to know that council recognised that and wanted to make sure that it is progressing in time for the 2020 completion of the existing lease.”

The Mayor said the easiest path for him out of the review would be to leave the airfield where it is.

“The reason we’ve made the term for this lease five years is to allow this review to take place so that we can then structure the next lease to take into consideration the outcomes of the review and put the proper things in because you then need to move into a proper long term lease.”

A questioner shot back at the length of the lease: “I’d hate to be a business, like some people out there and having to rely on your five year lease, there’s millions of dollars tied up out there, that’s a disgrace.”

Cr Christensen replied that if council … “could deal with the review in fewer than five years it would be great” and he didn’t want to give BAI a two year lease because: “everyone would say ‘oh you’re going to close it down’.”

“Without the certainty that there’s a 50 year horizon, I wouldn’t want to be investing the next million dollars out there,” Cr Christensen said.

“If I was a business, if I didn’t have the certainty of the next 50 years, and that’s what this review will help us understand - the right location and confirm it and whatever else, then I wouldn’t jump to that next investment.”

The questioner replied that pushing the lease commitment forward a further five years would put it in the hands of the future council, not the incumbent.

The Mayor said time had nothing to do with it, instead, it was a natural disaster that derailed the movement on negotiations with the airfield.

“I wish we could have gone into this conversation in 2017, when we had the report, unfortunately, a number of things happened not the least of which was a little thing called the Cyclone Debbie aftermath.

“The biggest reconstruction in the life of the region and we had to divert all of our key resources to focus on that recovery over the next two years.

“We believe that was a much more urgent pressing need at that time for the region.”     An audience member who identified himself as Tony rubbished the five year option for the lease with a further extension option.

“They’ve got five years and at the end of that they’ve got absolutely nothing and I question your interest in this argument by warning people today, don’t invest in your businesses,” Tony said.

“You’ve just said ‘I wouldn’t spend another million dollars’.”

Cr Christensen:: “Sorry I wasn’t warning people not to invest. Can I clarify what I said, I said  for me, I’d want the certainty of the 50 year horizon.”

Asked whether council would apply for a competitive federal grant for an upgrade at the airfield, the Mayor said as it would require matched funding and it would not be a process that council would spearhead.

“It’s not something that we’ve [council and BAI] had any discussion around at all.

“So don’t ask me to commit to something that we haven’t had a proper dialogue around again, from where I come from that’s not reasonable.”

Former Scenic Rim Regional Council Mayor John Brent said he had been involved in the airfield since its opening in 1976.

“I think it’s incumbent on councils moving forward to continue to look at the opportunities, the current strip requires,” he said.

Richard Darvall said he’d been a part of the district for 70 years and had watched the airfield situation unfold.

“I haven’t agreed with a lot that John Brent has said or done in the last 20 years but John I totally agree today,” Mr Darvall said.

“I think the time for consulting the community is over because you are very clearly projecting the intention of involving the wider community.

“This was a meeting today for everybody, everybody had an opportunity to attend and it’s not good enough for you, Mayor, to stand up there and say that you are going to leave here today and reopen this by involving the wider community.

“The process you’ve outlined today gives them no certainly whatsoever. You are opening a whole new process of consultation and, I know  most people that deal with your council know that nothing is going to happen for years.

Cr Christensen: “I think your allegation about things taking a long time probably isn’t supported by [current] council data, it absolutely is supported by historic data.”

Boonah Chamber of Commerce President Bruce Trevena questioned the Mayor on why BAI was told, by council officers, that the preferred recommendation [option 2] out of the review released in January 2017 was for the airfield to remain in place with upgrades from both council and BAI, and a 20 to 25 year lease should be made.

Cr Christensen: “The reality is, this was a very specific review, because we were trying to address a particular set of issues that had been brought forward as allegations around specific operation and behavior within the airfield. Part of what came out as a recommendation went beyond the scope of the review.”

President Mark Bahr said two council officers sent BAI a letter stating ‘option 2’ was the preferred option and no communication had been received since to change that position.

Cr Christensen: “I respect that perspective and I agree you received some communication and it was not the position that had been finalised by council so they preempted a decision of council.”