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Mayor George Creed has called for calm throughout the community as debate continues over the reconstruction of the Gladstone Airport runway. Mayor Creed said he was disturbed to learn that some project supporters had sought out the Chinery family (Aerodrome Road residents) and subjected them to abuse and harassment as a result of their earlier stance against Council's proposal to use the Airport taxiway as an alternate runway for a period of time. "As much as Mr and Mrs Chinery's opposition to our original proposal was frustrating, we certainly respect their rights as citizens to question their elected members and other authorities," Cr Creed said. "They certainly should not be persecuted by others for doing so." Council understands the Chinery's received more attention after they were wrongly identified as being part of the Ratepayers Against Wankers in Council (RAWIC) group in the local daily newspaper last week. "We, as a Council, know that the Chinery's are not part of this group. They have been far more up front with us and have generally dealt directly at all times. At the very least they were prepared to identify themselves from the outset," Cr Creed said. "To that end, we are also asking that people not seek out RAWIC members either. Anyone who has issues or concerns, whether they are in favour of or opposed to the project, should deal directly with the Council. The last thing we want is people turning on each other because of differences of opinion. Gladstone is better than that." Mayor Creed confirmed that the very latest information concerning the Gladstone Airport Upgrade Project would be available at a public briefing being facilitated by Gladstone Regional Council this month. Following a series of discussions with Qantaslink and relevant technical consultants this month, Mayor Creed confirmed Council was making arrangements to provide an accurate project update to the community. "Council and Qantaslink have been working collaboratively to develop an optimal plan to minimise and, ideally, avoid any closure of the Gladstone Airport during reconstruction work next year," Mayor Creed said. "The positive outcomes of our recent discussions will be the focus of a public presentation being planned for the next couple of weeks." "As anxious as we are to get this information out to people, we have to give the technical people the time they need to ensure the proposals stack up. We hope to be able to announce the dates and times of the briefing this week," Mayor Creed said. |
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Mayor George Creed.| Next Edition 29 November 2008 |
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