Toowoomba Aerodrome tenants want new long-term leases after Toowoomba council vote on future of airport

While its future has been secured, tenants at the Toowoomba Aerodrome say their questions and requests to council over their leases have remained unanswered.

The Cirrus SR20 on approach to Toowoomba Aerodrome. Photo Andrew Backhouse / The Chronicle

Users of the beleaguered Toowoomba Aerodrome could remain in limbo for months, despite the council voting to secure the future of the asset.

Members at the airport in Wilsonton say they have received minimal contact from the Toowoomba Regional Council about the renewal of month-to-month leases or the approval of new hangars.

The frustrations come nearly two months after councillors voted to continue operations at the airport while an internal review was completed to “ensure leases, fees and charges are commercially competitive and in line with similar aerodromes”.

Toowoomba City Community Airport group protest outside city hall before a council meeting to discuss the future of Toowoomba City Aerodrome (also known as Toowoomba Airport), Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The Toowoomba City Community Airport (TCCA) group said it believed discussions would start on re-establishing long-term leases in line with the spirit of the decision, but the council last week confirmed new agreements would be “issued to existing tenants when the review has been finalised”.

TCCA member and Austrek Aviation chief executive Marty Taylor, whose company is one of the larger users at the aerodrome, said he had received little correspondence from the council about his own lease.

“We’ve written numerous letters to the council, and we’re getting zero replies,” he said.

“They voted to look into how the airport was run and they were wanting to study that over the next two years, (but) they also talked about renewing the leases and getting other businesses here.

“The spirit of the discussion was, let’s continue everything, let’s move forward and communicate with stakeholders.

“There is still reticence on the part of the bureaucrats to communicate with us.”

The communication issues have been complicated by the council’s decision on July 1 to raise the cost of landing fees at the aerodrome, as well as lowering the highest weight brackets from 5.7 tonnes to four tonnes.

Mr Taylor said the changes felt like a “slap in the face”, arguing most other airports with bracketed landing fees used a 5.7 tonne threshold for larger aircraft.

Concerned about the future of the aerordrome is Toowoomba City Community Airport group president Matt Handley.

TCCA president Matt Handley said committee members felt like their concerns weren’t being heard by the council’s leadership team.

“What’s worrying is the security of tenure for the companies here, they’re not communicating very well around the existing leases,” he said.

In response, portfolio spokesman councillor Trevor Manteufel said the review was designed to make the airport more commercially competitive.

“Council endorsed undertaking a review to ensure leases, fees and charges are commercially competitive and in line with similar aerodromes,” he said in a statement.

“A simultaneous review will be conducted into the Toowoomba City Aerodrome’s operations and services, including the financial and non-financial benefits and costs to the community.

“Reporting for previous financial years has shown that council does not recover the full cost of the aerodrome activities from revenue generated by leases, fees and charges, including landing fees.

“Existing leases are currently under review to ensure best practice — any new lease rates and/or conditions will be negotiated when leases are up for renewal.”

Wagner in war of words over airport’s viability

John Wagner. Picture: Nev Madsen.

One of Toowoomba’s most successful businessman has called on the council to correct the financial viability of the Toowoomba Aerodrome, arguing the asset’s tenants were getting a “free ride”.

In comments that have since been disputed by users, Wagner Corporation chairman John Wagner slammed the current situation with the aerodrome that has been lingering for years.

It comes after it was revealed the Wilsonton asset was running at a $1.5m loss by the council following a review into its expense, although this figure has been questioned by companies at the airport.

Mr Wagner, whose company was secretly approached by the council earlier this year about its capacity to take some of the airport’s larger operators, said he remained ambivalent about the aerodrome’s future.

“The Toowoomba Airport, why are they allowing it to run at a loss, why don’t they get that $1m and put it into the council budget?” he said.

“It’s actually not fair to the other ratepayers to subsidise a few people so they’ve got to start being a bit more strategic there.

“The tenants are on month-to-month leases, so they could put the rent up — it should go up four or five-fold.

“In my view, it’s a bit different to the not-for-profits (like LifeFlight), they provide a community service, (but) the commercial tenants are getting a free ride, while their counterparts get charged commercial rent.”

In response to the comments, Austrek Aviation chief executive Marty Taylor said Wellcamp and Toowoomba airports could not be compared fairly due to a range of factors.

“(Wellcamp is) a totally different airport, it’s privately owned and this (airport) is a lot smaller, it doesn’t provide the services that Wellcamp does,” he said.

“Something that needs to be brought at is this airport was gifted to the council by the federal government, and there’s a deed where the commonwealth mandates that the council look after the tenants here.

“We need to get away from John Wagner’s wishes. I don’t know why he’s commenting about it.”

Mr Taylor also disputed the council’s findings about the aerodrome’s financial position, calling on the TRC to release the report.