By Tony Moore
A decade after being put onto the drawing board, work on a 2½-kilometre second airport runway tipped to generate 2200 jobs and $4 billion in revenue will begin on Thursday morning on the Sunshine Coast.
On Thursday morning, Sunshine Coast Council will announce civil infrastructure giant John Holland Group will build the runway at the Marcoola airport.
John Holland will build the new 2.45-kilometre-long runway at the Sunshine Coast Airport by 2020.
The new runway will cost about $225 million be finished by Christmas 2020.
It has taken 11 years for the Sunshine Coast Council to name a builder for the 2.45 kilometre-long and 45-metre-wide runway.
The idea began in 2007. Then, the council won public approval at the Sunshine Coast elections in March 2016, Queensland government approval in May 2016 and federal government approval in July 2016.
Changes to the project since it was first planned in 2007 show 3500 fewer homes will be impacted by aircraft noise from the new north-west aligned runway when it is operating in 2020.
It will allow additional flights and up to 2 million extra visitors to and from New Zealand, Bali, Singapore, the Western Pacific, Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide and Canberra.
“The project is expected to generate 2230 new full-time direct and indirect jobs by 2040 and inject around $4.1 billion into the Sunshine Coast economy in the 20 years following its commissioning in 2020,” the project’s key objectives show.
Sunshine Coast mayor Mark Jamieson (left) signs the agreement for developer Palisade to operate the airport.Credit: Tony Moore
Sunshine Coast mayor Mark Jamieson said it was the largest construction project awarded by the Sunshine Coast Council and would allow larger aircraft to fly in and out of the Sunshine Coast.
“The new runway will accommodate larger, more fuel-efficient aircraft and open up direct access for the Sunshine Coast to more Australian cities, to international markets in Asia and the Western Pacific and in turn drive significant economic growth,” Cr Jamieson said.
Those larger aircraft will allow the Sunshine Coast to exploit fresh food exports.
“This is the biggest construction project delivered by Sunshine Coast Council and I know it’s one that has been long awaited by our community, the tourism industry and local businesses,” he said.
John Holland Group built the $105 million Sunshine Coast University Hospital by 2013 and, in 2017, signed a memorandum of understanding for a $200 million stake in Sunshine Coast’s new central business district being built from the ground up at Maroochydore.
Sunshine Coast Airport.
Chief executive Joe Barr said John Holland had “extensive experience” in airport projects, most recently winning a 2017 tender for $170 million redevelopment of access to Sydney East Airport at Port Botany.
Previously, the company widened Melbourne’s main runway in 2005 to allow the new Airbus A380 to land, then built its second terminal and Darwin and Perth’s domestic terminals.
“We are pleased to be part of the journey on this significant project for the future of the region,” Mr Barr said.
“We already have an association with the region, having delivered the Sunshine Coast University Private Hospital a few years ago and with our involvement in the planned development of the Maroochydore CBD.”
John Holland Group takes possession of the Marcoola airport site within several weeks.
Dredging work was expected to begin in mid-2018.
The council said members of the area’s Indigenous population worked on the 63-hectare site during 2017 to identify culturally important sites for the Kabi Kabi people.