"Residents rally against Sydney airport expansion"

Monday, February 12, 2001

Expand Bankstown Airport: no way, say angry residents
By Ellen Connolly
Australia - The Sydney Morning Herald


They were encouraged to get angry - "bloody angry".

And they did.

The 1,000 or so residents who gathered at Bankstown Paceway yesterday to
rally against the proposed airport expansion screamed when they were told to
and waved placards of "No Jets For Bankstown" when instructed.

But their collective voices were still not enough to drown out the noise of
the planes that flew constantly over them during the hour-long speeches.

"I'm just a normal resident," Mr Jim McGoldrick told the crowd. "We've got
our politicians who can say what they like. But the truth of the fight is
the residents. We are the ones affected."

Yesterday's rally was the first since the Federal Government's announcement
in December to establish Bankstown as the city's second airport. People came
from across Sydney's south-west to protest. All agreed it was the first of
what would be a long campaign.

The Premier, Mr Carr, while not at the rally, gave his support via a
statement formally opposing any move to expand or increase the capacity of
the airport.

He said he remained firmly opposed to any proposal to forcibly transfer
regional airlines away from Mascot.

Mr Carr also said increased air traffic at Bankstown would mean more noise
and disruption for local families, communities and schools, and could even
result in the closure of Condell Park Public School.

Mr McGoldrick, a member of the South-western Sydney Community Alliance,
lives at Moorebank, two kilometres from the runway, and said it had ruined
his property value. Noise and air pollution was already a problem and would
be made even worse.

"It's going to do nothing but hurt, hurt, hurt," he said.

He called on "people power", saying "no politician can stop this".

Mr David Mullens, who has lived at Chipping Norton for the past eight years,
said the expansion would have a "dramatic effect" on his family's life.

"The kids won't be able to sleep. Our property values are going to go down,"
the father-of-two said.

His daughter, Brittany, 6, stood next to her father, a sticker plastered
across her forehead. Asked whether she understood why she was here, she
said: "Cos we are going to fight the Government."

Attached Photo:

Fury over plan for Bankstown to become Sydney's second airport . . . some of
the crowd demonstrating at Bankstown Paceway yesterday.

no_jets.jpg