GRANT District Council elected members have officially given the green light to aviation carrier Regional Express having a representative on a new airport strategy group.
This follows Regional Express expressing its fury the airline was not on a provisional and unofficial list compiled by council staff.
Mayor Richard Sage recently flew to Sydney to meet with Regional Express management to end the turbulence sparked by the formation of a new strategy committee.
At this week’s council meeting, elected members officially pushed through the membership of the Mount Gambier Regional Airport Strategy Committee despite Mayor Richard Sage attempting to stall the formation of the group.
Mr Sage – who supported having a Regional Express official on the committee – called for elected members to hold a workshop on the issue and explore other names for the committee.
Cr Julie Reis – who is an educator in the health sector – also questioned why a representative from the Royal Flying Doctor Service was not included.
“I see a little gap there on the committee,” Cr Reis told the meeting.
In response, council chief executive officer David Singe said the committee was a strategy group and not operational in its governance role.
While there were some questions over whether the committee was “too heavy” with representatives from the local government sector, elected members agreed with the proposed membership after some discussion.
The committee will include a Regional Express official as well as Mount Gambier City Council staff member Dr Judy Nagy, who was nominated by Regional Development Australia Limestone Coast given her strategic background.
Other members will include tourism representative Biddie Shearing, SA Tourism Commission’s Mark Gill and Wattle Range chief executive officer Ben Gower.
Mr Gower made the list due to his previous experience in the aviation sector and not his local government position.
Specialist aviation consultant Jonathon Cheong will also provide expertise on the committee.
Mount Gambier City Council elected member Ben Hood will join the group, given City Council contributed funds to the looming multi-million dollar redevelopment of the Mount Gambier Airport.
Former chair of the Mount Gambier Airport Advisory Committee, David Herbert – who is an avid recreational pilot – is also on the list.
Mr Sage will be part of the new group, along with deputy mayor Gill Clayfield, Cr Shirley Little and Mr Singe.
During this week’s meeting, Mr Sage urged councillors to support him becoming chair of the new strategy committee to ensure effective communication.
Councillors did not support this and moved the mayor be included in the membership of the committee.
It is understood the committee will now appoint whom they wish to chair the group.
Mr Sage also failed in his attempt to chair the Mount Gambier Regional Airport Security and Mount Gambier and District Saleyards Strategy committees.
These two committees will also appoint the chair.
