Nicholas J. Stevens · The first publication of the thesis (Chapter 2) acknowledges that the changing role of airports demands the establishment of new models of airport planning

Nicholas Stevens Copyright 2012

LAND USE PLANNING AND THE AIRPORT METROPOLIS

Nicholas J. Stevens

Bachelor Built Environment (Landscape Architecture) Queensland University of Technology

Master (Urban & Regional Planning)

Queensland University of Technology

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

at the

School of Civil Engineering and Built Environment

Science and Engineering Faculty

Queensland University of Technology

Australia

December 2012

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Abstract

Australian airports have emerged as important urban activity centres over the past decade as a

result of privatisation. A range of reciprocal airport and regional impacts now pose

considerable challenges for both airport operation and the surrounding urban and regional

environment. The airport can no longer be managed solely as a specialised transport entity in

isolation from the metropolis that it serves.

In 2007 a multidisciplinary Australian Research Council Linkage Project (LP 0775225) was

funded to investigate the changing role of airports in Australia. This thesis is but one component

of this collaborative research effort. Here the issues surrounding the policy and practice of

airport and regional land use planning are explored, analysed and detailed.

This research, for the first time, assembles a distinct progression of the wider social, economic,

technological and environmental roles of the airport within the Australian airport literature

from 1914 – 2011. It recognises that while the list of airport and regional impacts has grown

through time, treatment within practice and the literature has largely remained highly

specialised and contained within disciplinary paradigms.

The first publication of the thesis (Chapter 2) acknowledges that the changing role of airports

demands the establishment of new models of airport planning and development. It argues that

practice and research requires a better understanding of the reciprocal impacts of airports and

their urban catchments.

The second publication (Chapter 3) highlights that there is ad hoc examination and media

attention of high profile airport and regional conflict, but little empirical analysis or

understanding of the extent to which all privatised Australian airports are intending to develop.

The conceptual and methodological significance of this research is the development of a

national land use classification system for on-airport development. This paper establishes the

extent of on-airport development in Australia, providing insight into the changing land use and

economic roles of privatised airports.

The third publication (Chapter 4) details new and significant interdependencies for airport and

regional development in consideration of the progression of airports as activity centres. Here

the model of an ‘airport metropolis’ is offered as an organising device and theoretical

contribution for comprehending the complexity and planning of airport and regional

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development. It delivers a conceptual framework for both research and policy, which

acknowledges the reciprocal impacts of economic development, land use, infrastructure and

governance ‘interfaces’.

In a timely and significant concurrence with this research the Australian Government

announced and delivered a National Aviation Policy Review (2008 – 2009). As such the fourth

publication (Chapter 5) focuses on the airport and urban planning aspects of the review. This

paper also highlights the overall policy intention of facilitating broader airport and regional

collaborative processes. This communicative turn in airport policy is significant in light of the

communicative theoretical framework of the thesis.

The fifth paper of the thesis (Chapter 6) examines three Australian case studies (Brisbane,

Adelaide and Canberra) to detail the context of airport and regional land use planning and to

apply the airport metropolis model as a framework for research. Through the use of Land Use

Forums, over 120 airport and regional stakeholders are brought together to detail their

perspectives and interactions with airport and regional land use planning. An inductive

thematic analysis of the results identifies three significant themes which contribute to the

fragmentation of airport and regional and land use planning: 1) inadequate coordination and

disjointed decision-making; 2) current legislative and policy frameworks; and 3) competing

stakeholder priorities and interests.

Building on this new knowledge, Chapter 7 details the perceptions of airport and local, state and

territory government stakeholders to land use relationships, processes and outcomes. A series

of semi-structured interviews are undertaken in each of the case studies to inform this research.

The potential implications for ongoing communicative practice are discussed in conclusion.

The following thesis represents an incremental and cumulative research process which delivers

new knowledge for the practical understanding and research interpretation of airport and

regional land use planning practice and policy. It has developed and applied a robust conceptual

framework which delivers significant direction for all stakeholders to better comprehend the

relevance of airports in the urban character and design of our cities.

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Table of Contents

Abstract .................................................................................................................................................................................... ii

Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................................................ iv

Statement of Original Authorship ............................................................................................................................. viii

Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................................................................. ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1

Structure of the Thesis By Publication.......................................................................................................... 1 1.1

Research Context .................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Background – City Airports to Airport Cities (2006) ............................................................... 3 1.2.1 The Research Setting and Political Background ......................................................................... 6 1.2.2

Research Problem ............................................................................................................................................... 12 1.3

Research Questions ............................................................................................................................................ 12 1.4

Research Strategy – Comparative Case Study Approach ................................................................... 14 1.5 Brisbane, Queensland .......................................................................................................................... 14 1.5.1 Adelaide, South Australia ................................................................................................................... 15 1.5.2 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory ........................................................................................ 15 1.5.3

Data Collection & Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 15 1.6 Geographic information system (GIS) land use analysis (Chapter 3) ............................ 16 1.6.1 Land Use Forums - participatory action research (Chapter 6) ......................................... 18 1.6.2 Semi – structured interviews - qualitative understanding (Chapter 7) ........................ 20 1.6.3 Thematic analysis - qualitative analysis (Chapter 6 & 7) .................................................... 20 1.6.4

Communicative Planning Theory ................................................................................................................. 22 1.7

Significance of Research ................................................................................................................................... 26 1.8

The Airport Metropolis Interface Model ................................................................................................... 27 1.9 Sustainability and the Airport Metropolis .................................................................................. 28 1.9.1

Overview of Thesis ............................................................................................................................................. 32 1.10 Chapter 2: Literature Review - Understanding the Australian Airport Metropolis . 32 1.10.1 Chapter 3: Airport city developments in Australia: land use classification and 1.10.2analyses...................................................................................................................................................... 34 Chapter 4: Airports in their urban settings: towards a conceptual model of 1.10.3interfaces in the Australian context .............................................................................................. 36 Chapter 5: Managing airport land development under regulatory uncertainty ....... 38 1.10.4 Chapter 6: Land use conflict across the airport fence: competing urban policy, 1.10.5planning and priority in Australia ................................................................................................. 39 Chapter 7: Stakeholder perspectives on airport and regional land use planning .... 41 1.10.6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW – UNDERSTANDING THE AUSTRALIAN AIRPORT METROPOLIS ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 43

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 44 2.1

Impact of Airports ............................................................................................................................................... 45 2.2

Airport Ownership .............................................................................................................................................. 46 2.3

Airport Conflicts ................................................................................................................................................... 47 2.4

Studying Airports ................................................................................................................................................ 49 2.5

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Integrated Models of Airports as Activity Centres ............................................................................... 50 2.6

The Need for a Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................... 52 2.7

Additional Contextual Literature ................................................................................................................. 53 2.8 The National Aviation Policy Review............................................................................................ 53 2.8.1 Environmental Impact and the Australian Airport Metropolis ........................................ 55 2.8.2 Airport Ownership ................................................................................................................................ 58 2.8.3 Commercialisation and Commercial Development ................................................................ 59 2.8.4 Airport Privatisation ............................................................................................................................ 63 2.8.5 Land Use and Compatibility .............................................................................................................. 66 2.8.6

References .............................................................................................................................................................. 68 2.9

CHAPTER 3: AIRPORT CITY DEVELOPMENTS IN AUSTRALIA: LAND USE CLASSIFICATION AND ANALYSES ........................................................................................................................................................................... 75

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 77 3.1

Background ............................................................................................................................................................ 77 3.2 Aviation growth in Australia ............................................................................................................ 77 3.2.1 Airport ownership in Australia ....................................................................................................... 78 3.2.2 Airport Planning under the Airports Act 1996 .......................................................................... 79 3.2.3 Diversification of airport revenue ................................................................................................. 80 3.2.4

Land use analysis: methods and materials .............................................................................................. 81 3.3 Airport study group .............................................................................................................................. 81 3.3.1 Spatial analysis process utilised to create land use zoning maps .................................... 83 3.3.2 Re-classification of land use zoning .............................................................................................. 83 3.3.3

Results and discussion ...................................................................................................................................... 85 3.4 Adelaide Airport (ADL) - RPT .......................................................................................................... 87 3.4.1 Alice Springs Airport (ASP) - GA ..................................................................................................... 88 3.4.2 Archerfield Airport (YBAF) – GA/PT ............................................................................................ 89 3.4.3 Bankstown Airport (BWU) – GA/PT ............................................................................................. 89 3.4.4 Brisbane Airport (BNE) - RPT .......................................................................................................... 90 3.4.5 Camden Airport (CDU) - GA .............................................................................................................. 91 3.4.6 Canberra Airport (CBR) - RPT ......................................................................................................... 91 3.4.7 Coolangatta Airport (OOL) - RPT .................................................................................................... 92 3.4.8 Darwin Airport (DRW) - RPT ........................................................................................................... 92 3.4.9

Essendon Airport (MEB) - GA/PT .................................................................................................. 93 3.4.10 Hobart Airport (HBA) - RPT ............................................................................................................. 94 3.4.11 Hoxton Park Airport (YHOX) – GA ................................................................................................. 95 3.4.12 Jandakot Airport (JAD) - GA/PT ...................................................................................................... 95 3.4.13 Launceston Airport (LST) - GA/PT ................................................................................................ 96 3.4.14 Melbourne Airport (MEL) - RPT ..................................................................................................... 96 3.4.15 Moorabbin Airport (MBW) - GA/PT .............................................................................................. 97 3.4.16 Parafield Airport (ADZ) - GA/PT .................................................................................................... 98 3.4.17 Perth Airport (PER) - RPT ................................................................................................................. 99 3.4.18 Sydney Airport (SYD) - RPT .............................................................................................................. 99 3.4.19 Townsville Airport (TSV) - RPT ................................................................................................... 100 3.4.20

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................... 101 3.5

References ........................................................................................................................................................... 102 3.6

CHAPTER 4: AIRPORTS IN THEIR URBAN SETTINGS: TOWARDS A CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF INTERFACES IN THE AUSTRALIAN CONTEXT ..................................................................................................... 104

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 105 4.1

Airports within the urban context ............................................................................................................ 106 4.2

Changes in airport ownership .................................................................................................................... 107 4.3

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Current pressures reshaping the impact of Australian airports ................................................. 109 4.4

The need for a new conceptual framework .......................................................................................... 112 4.5

An Interface Model........................................................................................................................................... 114 4.6 Economic Development ................................................................................................................... 115 4.6.1 Land Use ................................................................................................................................................. 117 4.6.2 Infrastructure ....................................................................................................................................... 118 4.6.3 Governance ............................................................................................................................................ 119 4.6.4

Sustainability and airport development ................................................................................................ 121 4.7

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................... 122 4.8

References ........................................................................................................................................................... 123 4.9

CHAPTER 5: MANAGING AIRPORT LAND DEVELOPMENT UNDER REGULATORY UNCERTAINTY .. 131

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 132 5.1

Development, regulation and risk............................................................................................................. 134 5.2

The privatisation of Australian airports and their planning regime ......................................... 136 5.3

The National Aviation Review and policy reform .............................................................................. 140 5.4

An airport industry perspective ................................................................................................................ 142 5.5 The Review Process ........................................................................................................................... 143 5.5.1 Post-White Paper ................................................................................................................................ 144 5.5.2

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................... 149 5.6

References ........................................................................................................................................................... 151 5.7

CHAPTER 6: LAND USE CONFLICT ACROSS THE AIRPORT FENCE: COMPETING URBAN POLICY, PLANNING AND PRIORITY IN AUSTRALIA ........................................................................................................... 155

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 156 6.1

Airport Metropolis Interfaces ..................................................................................................................... 157 6.2

Fractured Policy ................................................................................................................................................ 159 6.3

National Aviation Policy Review................................................................................................................ 159 6.4

Airport and Regional Case Studies ........................................................................................................... 160 6.5 Brisbane, Queensland ....................................................................................................................... 161 6.5.1 Adelaide, South Australia ................................................................................................................ 161 6.5.2 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory ..................................................................................... 161 6.5.3

Research Approach - Land Use Forums ................................................................................................. 162 6.6

Methods ................................................................................................................................................................ 163 6.7

Findings and Analysis: Common Stakeholder Themes.................................................................... 165 6.8 Governance ............................................................................................................................................ 165 6.8.1 Environment ......................................................................................................................................... 168 6.8.2 Economic Development ................................................................................................................... 171 6.8.3 Infrastructure ....................................................................................................................................... 174 6.8.4

Discussion ............................................................................................................................................................ 176 6.9

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................... 177 6.10

References ........................................................................................................................................................... 178 6.11

CHAPTER 7: STAKEHOLDER PERSPECTIVES ON AIRPORT AND REGIONAL LAND USE PLANNING 182

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 182 7.1 Background ........................................................................................................................................... 182 7.1.1

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Methods ................................................................................................................................................................ 183 7.2 Semi structured interviews ............................................................................................................ 184 7.2.1

Research Findings ............................................................................................................................................ 185 7.3 Airport metropolis stakeholder relationships....................................................................... 185 7.3.1 Airport metropolis land use process ......................................................................................... 190 7.3.2 Airport metropolis land use outcomes ..................................................................................... 194 7.3.3 Ongoing issues for stakeholders .................................................................................................. 197 7.3.4

Discussion ............................................................................................................................................................ 198 7.4

References ........................................................................................................................................................... 200 7.5

CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 201

Question 1: How has the role of the airport changed in Australia, and what are the 8.1implications for cooperative development with the adjacent urban region? ..................................... 202

Chapter 2: Understanding the Australian Airport Metropolis ....................................... 202 8.1.1 Chapter 3: Airport city developments in Australia: land use classification and 8.1.2

analyses................................................................................................................................................... 203

Question 2: How can the complexity of the integrated and reciprocal airport and 8.2regional impacts be conceptualised to assist policy, practice and research? ...................................... 205

Chapter 4: Airports in their urban settings: towards a conceptual model of 8.2.1interfaces in the Australian context ........................................................................................... 205

Chapter 5: Managing airport land development under regulatory uncertainty .... 207 8.2.2

Question 3: What are the airport and regional stakeholder perspectives with regard 8.3to the potential conflicts and opportunities in the establishing collaborative and cooperative land use planning? ......................................................................................................................................................... 208

Chapter 6: Land use conflict across the airport fence: competing urban policy, 8.3.1planning and priority in Australia .............................................................................................. 208

Chapter 7: Stakeholder perspectives on airport and regional land use planning . 209 8.3.2 Land Use Planning and the Airport Metropolis (2012) ..................................................... 210 8.3.3

Knowledge Claims and Impact ................................................................................................................... 213 8.4 The interfaces model ........................................................................................................................ 213 8.4.1 Citations for publications: .............................................................................................................. 213 8.4.2

Recommendations for Airport and Regional Land Use Planning ............................................... 215 8.5

REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................................... 218

APPENDIX 1 – RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS ....................................................................................................... 224

KEYWORDS: ADELAIDE, AIRPORT, AIRPORT METROPOLIS, AUSTRALIA, AVIATION POLICY,

BRISBANE, CANBERRA, CONSULTATION, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, GOVERNANCE,

GOVERNMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE, INTERFACES, LAND USE PLANNING, LEGISLATION, NON-

AERONAUTICAL DEVELOPMENT, PRIVATISATION, URBAN PLANNING.

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Statement of Original Authorship

The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet requirements for

an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and

belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except

where due reference is made.

Signature:

Date: 11th December 2012

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Acknowledgments

This work was carried out with financial support from the Commonwealth of Australia through

the Airport Metropolis Research Project 2007 – 2011(LP0775225) under the Australian

Research Council's Linkage Projects as an Australian Postgraduate Award Industry scholarship

holder.

This independent PhD research represents the land use planning component of the Airport

Metropolis Research Project (LP0775225). The research activities and the analysis described

within this thesis – geographic information system (GIS) land use analysis, Land Use Forums,

semi-structured interviews, and thematic analysis were carried out, by the author, to first

inform this research PhD and second, to allow for broader project outcomes and consultation.

I would like to thank the management and staff at Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra airports for

their time and support as research case studies. I would also like to thank all academic and

industry partners of the Airport Metropolis Research Project for their contributions and

feedback.

Particular thanks to my supervisory team Professor Douglas Baker (Queensland University of

Technology); Professor Robert Freestone (University of New South Wales) and Dr Severine

Mayere (Queensland University of Technology) for their patience and assurance.

Chapter 1: Introduction 1


1Chapter 1: Introduction

STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS BY PUBLICATION 1.1

A thesis by publication results in a different organisational structure compared to the

traditional PhD structure, and as such this section will provide an overview of this thesis

composition. Figure 1(over page) offers a graphic summary of the thesis chapters, including the

title and the key headings.

Chapters 2 - 6 are comprised of the contributing and interdependent journal and conference

publications of this thesis. Each chapter is from a discrete publication, the details of which are

listed at the beginning of the chapter. Note that the chapters are representative of the actual

publications, and as such the figure and table numbering within each chapter is only

representative of that chapter, and is not concurrent throughout the thesis.

Due to the nature of the topic, significant background and understanding of the Australian

airport circumstance was required for each publication. As such some duplication of material

may be apparent within the thesis. For the purpose of efficiency and to endeavour to eliminate

unnecessary repetition some sections of these papers have been omitted. Where this is

necessary within a chapter, notations will be made to indicate the location and context of the

omission. The publications are available in full within Appendix 1.

A further examination of each chapter will be presented in Section 1.10 providing details of:

included publications, the methods used, key findings and the relationship of the chapter to the

thesis. This section will demonstrate the cumulative nature of the publications in addressing the

principal purpose of this thesis: to inform and enhance approaches to land use planning for

airports and adjacent metropolitan regions in Australia.



Figure 1 Land use planning and the airport metropolis thesis structure

Chapter 1: Introduction Stevens, Nicholas J. (2006) City Airports to Airport Cities. Queensland Planner, 46(1): 37.

•Reaserch context •Research problem & questions •Research strategy •Research aims and significance •Theoretical approach •Overview of the thesis

Chapter 2: Literature Review - Understanding the Australian Airport Metropolis Stevens, Nicholas J., Baker, Douglas C., & Freestone, Robert (2007) Understanding the Australian Airport Metropolis. In State of Australian Cities National Conference (SOAC), 28-30 November 2007, Adelaide: 110 – 120.

•Airport ownership •Airport conflicts •Studying airports •Integrated models of airport development •The need for a conceptual framework

Chapter 3: Airport city developments in Australia: land use classification and analyses Walker, Arron R. & Stevens, Nicholas J. (2008) Airport city developments in Australia: land use classification and analyses. In 10th TRAIL Congress and Knowledge Market, 14-15 October 2008, Rotterdam, The Netherlands: 23pages.

•Aviation growth in Australia •Airport planning under the Airports Act 1996 •Diversification of airport revenue •Land use analysis: methods and materials

Chapter 4: Airports in their urban settings: towards a conceptual model of interfaces in the Australian context Stevens, Nicholas J., Baker, Douglas C., & Freestone, Robert (2010) Airports in their urban settings: towards a conceptual model of interfaces in the Australian context. Journal of Transport Geography, 18(2): 276-284.

•Airports within the urban context •Current pressures reshaping the impact of

Australian airports •An interface model •Sustainability and airport development

Chapter 5: Managing airport land development under regulatory uncertainty Freestone, Robert., Baker, Douglas,. & Stevens, Nicholas J. (2011) Managing airport land development under regulatory uncertainty. Research in Transportation Business & Management, 1(1): 101–108.

•Development, regulation and risk •The privatisation of Australian airports and their

planning regime •The National Aviaiton Policy Review •An airport industry perspective

Chapter 6: Land use conflict across the airport fence: competing urban policy, planning and priority in Australia Stevens, Nicholas J. & Baker, Douglas. (2011) Land use conflict across the airport fence: competing urban policy, planning and priority in Australia. Urban Policy and Research (submitted).

•Airport metropolis interfaces •Fractured policy •Airport and regional case studies •Research approach - land use fourms •Common stakeholder themes

Chapter 7: Stakeholder perspectives on airport and regional land use planning Stevens, Nicholas J. (2011) Stakeholder perspectives on airport and regional land use planning.

•Airport metropolis stakeholder relationships •Airport metropolis land use process •Airport metropolis land use outcomes •Ongoing issues for stakeholders

Chapter 8: Conclusion - Land use planning and the airport metropolis

•Summary of findings •Significance of findings & knowledge

contributions •Recommendations



RESEARCH CONTEXT 1.2

The first part of this research context presents a publication from 2006 (outside of thesis

requirements) which provides an important insight into how the current research was initially

conceived. This early commentary is useful in identifying the articulation of the ‘airport city’

construct and the emerging disquiet surrounding airport and regional development.

The second part provides a broader sense of the ‘issues’ which influence airport and regional

planning and policy, offering insight into the research setting and political background around

which the changing role of airports is occurring.

Background – City Airports to Airport Cities (2006) 1.2.1

Stevens, Nicholas J. (2006) City Airports to Airport Cities, Queensland Planner 46(1): 37.

Introduction

The role, scale and meaning of major urban airports worldwide have changed over the past

decade as a result of corporate and economic transformation. Modern airports are very

different from traditional airports, and the current issues surrounding airport development and

expansion need to be defined by an understanding of the complex roles and relationships now

associated with airports.

Kasarda (2001) believes airports are the fifth wave of urban development evolving from the

history of transport induced urban growth. Major cities developed around seaports and canals

for hundreds of years. Railways in the 18th and 19th centuries opened up new lands, followed

by the development of highways and freeways in the 20th century. In the 21st century, Kasarda

claims that major gateway airports are generating spatial concentrations of commercial

activities that are leading to a new aviation linked urban form: the aerotropolis.

What may be easily recognised in Australia is that airports are fast becoming major business

centres, underpinned by various privatisation strategies. The Commonwealth government has

leased large urban and regional airports to private corporations and syndicates, and since the

late 1990s these entities have been well placed to benefit from the business and developer

demand for airport-related and broader commercial development. In the process, airports have

shifted from ‘public good’ transport interchange nodes to profit oriented commercial ventures

where aviation revenue is now only a part of the airport ‘business’. From a wider metropolitan

perspective they are emerging as important sub-regional activity centres with growing



complexity of land use, infrastructure, transport, environmental impacts and implications and

stakeholder relations.

As a result of such changes, airport impacts now pose considerable challenges for both airport

operators and the surrounding urban and regional environment. The airport can no longer be

managed in isolation from the metropolis that it serves.

In Australia, issues that are currently being faced include:

• environmental - impacts (space, noise and emissions) and resource use;

• related to infrastructure – inadequate and inequitable provision;

• related to economy – inefficiencies and duplication of commercial investments;

• related to governance - inert decision-making, poor coordination between levels of government, and conflict between jurisdictions;

• related to transport – localised congestion, isolation of planning strategies; and

• related to land-use – conflicts and competition between airports and surrounding urban areas.

Airports Act 1996

Due to lessee arrangements of the privatisation of airports in Australia, airports are presently

governed under the Airports Act 1996. This federal legislation sets out the responsibilities and

objects of airport development, regulation, ownership and obligations of airport-lessee

companies.

Whilst the requirements of the Act are comprehensive, it does not require the airport-lessee

company to have explicit regard to state or local planning regulations within their master

planning or major development plans. This has resulted in conflict in several cities across

Australia.

Under the Act, the Federal Government is the regulatory body for the assessment of airport

development. These powers have the potential to affect the very form and function of all cities.

In its unwillingness to cede development controls of airports to state and local authorities, the

Federal Government has implemented a de facto national urban policy. It is then the

responsibility of the Commonwealth to ensure that this opportunity for national urban policy

collaboration with the state and local governments is fully explored.



Airport Land Development

Airports cannot profit just by landing planes, and they must have alternate sources of revenue

Hooper et al. 2000; Freestone et al. 2006). Therefore, the development of airport lands for non-

aeronautical purposes is inevitable. The planning challenge is to affect the land uses at the

airport so that the changes harmonise with local and regional planning strategies.

The argument, from the objectors of development on airport land, is that these land uses must

be evaluated and assessed under the same state and local planning and development

regulations that any other developer is required to follow. The counter argument is that airports

have always been under federal legislation as they are areas of national importance for the

economic growth of the country. It may stand to reason that the national importance of airports

is related to the business of aviation, as global gateways. If airports wish to continue to be

regulated by federal legislation, the developments proposed, within their boundaries, must also

be of national significance.

Alternatively, it could also be argued that there is a need to plan, zone and designate land use in

the local area and region to support and promote the aviation industry. This state and local

cooperation may be a means of realising an airport’s full potential as a global gateway and

economic generator, rather than land locking and limiting the potential of this multi-billion

dollar critical infrastructure investment. It is important to recognise that profitability and

survival of the major international airports, in our capital cities, is vital to the economic

performance of not just the region, but the entire state and nation.

There is a need to establish research, comment and debate as a means of informing the

development of innovative policy and management practices for all stakeholders involved in

airport development. Simultaneous consideration of urban issues and institutional responses to

airport development are needed from airport-lessee companies, all tiers of government,

industry groups, the regional community and importantly, the Planning Institute of Australia.

Together they must begin to develop coordinated and cooperative infrastructure, land-use and

transport plans for the greater benefit of all, moving away from the current inert and isolated

decision making processes.

References

Freestone, R., Williams, P. & Bowden, A. (2006) Fly Buy Cities: Some planning aspects of airport privatisation in Australia. Urban Policy and Research, 24, 491-508.



Hooper, P., Cain, R. & White, S. (2000) The privatisation of Australia's airports. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 36, 181-204.

Kasarda, John D. 2001. “From Airport City to Aerotropolis.” Airport World 6: 42-47.

The Research Setting and Political Background 1.2.2

The neoliberal agenda is (twice) responsible for the complexity, fragmentation and messiness

that define the changing role of airports in Australia. First, it is responsible for the global free

market economies which have seen airports evolve into significant hub destinations through the

movement of people, goods and services worldwide. Second, it is the agenda through which the

management, planning and development of Australian airports were privatised to the exclusion

of local, state, and territory government decision-making.

Airport Cities From the early 1990s the changing role of airports was beginning to be acknowledged in the international literature (Conway 1993; Kasarda 1991; 1991a; 1996). Airports were increasingly recognised, and valued, as essential and distinct urban economic landscapes within the context of cities. Today, the changing economic, institutional and developmental role of modern airports has been interpreted as the development of ‘airport cities’ (Blanton 2004; Finavia 2004; Güller and Güller 2003; Kasarda 2001). In essence an airport city is an aviation interchange with access to global, regional and local markets supported by commercial, industrial and retail services both on the airport and within the region. It is an urban phenomenon that is spatially much larger and functionally more diverse than a traditional airport.

Conway (1993) argues that airport cities require approximately 50,000 acres of airport related land uses of which at least 10,000 acres would be for airport operation. In context, 50,000 acres would be equivalent to an 8 kilometre radius of airport and urban influence.

As airports have evolved and expanded to accommodate these new roles, regional communities have continued to encroach and intensify, driving the tension and fragmentation between local and global market interests. The capital city airport is intrinsically linked to other global airports, as part of an increasingly vital network under the processes of globalisation. However, they are decreasingly connected to their local environment as they emerge as a global business districts with little in common to the areas which support them. This complexity around ‘glocal’ relationships is identified and amplified in the context of modern airports (de Jong et al. 2008; Ferreira et al. 2006; Graham & Marvin 2001).

In the Australian context the airport city models of on-airport planning focus on the encouragement of aviation related industry, yet also provide for retail and commercial services that have limited dependence on air transport or aviation. These types of non-aviation development, which draw on metropolitan customers, have been a cause for regional concern. On-airport shopping centres, factory outlets, hotels and business parks have evolved in a legislative and policy framework outside of state and local government control and at a pace which regional planning practitioners are not familiar (Walker & Stevens 2008). This changing role of privatised Australian airports is a significant gap in the land use planning and transport geography literatures and is a key focus of this research effort.



When examining neoliberalism within the context of this research it is recognised principally as

a mode of regulation which restructured the ownership and management of airports from

federal government control to that of private corporations. This research is interested in how

these changes in decision-making and the resultant shift in management priorities has resulted

in challenges or opportunities for airport and regional land use planning.

Market Forces & Neoliberalism

The common conception of society is to identify three spheres of life: formal government, civil

society and the economy (Healey 2010). Through history each has ebbed and waned as the

guiding doctrine and there are various arguments for and against a prioritisation of one over the

other. What is recognised is that from the 1980s many first world governments sought to move

civil society toward a new phase through a raft of austerity measures, redefining the role of

government, and recognition of the important role of the global economy (Peck & Tickell 2003).

In response governments sought out more proactive approaches and there was a ‘transition

from managerial to an entrepreneurial state’ reflecting the economic shift (Healey 2010 p 55).

This was the move (or march) towards the neoliberal agenda (Leitner et al. 2007; Peck & Tickell

2002).

There is a vast literature, across all associations of the academy, concerning, discussing and

defining neoliberalism – very few are succinct or accessible. However, Lockie & Higgins (2007)

in their analysis of neoliberalism and Australian agri-environmental governance provide an

overview of the key elements associated with neoliberal agenda:

‘For many critical scholars drawing upon neo-Marxist theories of power, neoliberalism is a powerful mode of regulation associated with the global spread of market-based discourses and practices (e.g., Dicken, 2003; Holton, 1998; McCarthy and Prudham, 2004; McMichael, 2004; O’Riain, 2000). From this perspective, neoliberalism involves a restructuring of state-based regulation in ways that promote privatisation, free trade, deregulation and global competitiveness. Sometimes characterised as a withdrawal of state intervention in favour of ‘market rule’ or ‘jungle law’ (see Peck and Tickell, 1994), it is increasingly recognised that neoliberalism involves complex processes of de-regulation and re-regulation; the ‘roll-back’1 neoliberalism of the 1980s—characterised by the Thatcher and Reagan administrations—contrasting with the ‘roll-out’ agenda of the 1990s in which the Clinton and Blair governments in the US and UK sought to provide ‘Third Way’ alternatives to the perceived limits of market-centric neoliberalism (Peck and Tickell, 2002). Far from causing problems or contradictions for the neoliberalist project, Peck and Tickell (2002, p.389) argue that this most recent phase has contributed to “a striking co-existence of technocratic economic management and

1 Characterised by the dismantling of the social project, welfare and union power (Peck & Tickell 1994).



invasive social policies”. In sum, neoliberalism has proved to be a far more durable form of regulation than many predicted’ (p 2).

‘New Labour’ and the ‘Third Way’, as offered under the Blair government, was less of a

revolution from Thatcherism as it was an evolution, or indeed an extension of the project and

considered to be in the social democratic contradictions of late neoliberalism (Allmendinger &

Tewder-Jones 2000; Peck & Tickell 2002). Regardless, the creeping privatisation which

accompanies all free market reform is recognised by Miller (2005) in (Leitner et al. 2007) as

‘changing the modes of decision-making’, with ‘market based models of coordination, replacing

democratic deliberation’ (p 255). Further, he argues that ‘this has been coupled with a decline of

democratic ideology’ [it is] ‘the shift from engaged public citizens with an understanding of

mutual obligations to being smart, self-interested, individualistic consumers’ (p 244).

Under neoliberal reforms the failures and mismanagement of public bureaucracy became a

rationale for ‘contracting out’ and privatisation (Peck & Tickell 2002). As a consequence

neoliberalism and the Third Way have ensured that urban planning decision-making is no

longer just the domain of government. There are increased complications as governments

undertake variants of privatisation and adopt the principles of the market economy. Healey

(2007) identifies that both the neoliberal agenda of small government and the social democratic

agenda of citizen participation have encouraged a ‘proliferation’ of partnership agreements,

semi-public bodies and contracting arrangements between government, business and the

community (p 18). Further that they have ‘helped create diffuse and fragmented urban

governance landscapes’, which raises questions about accountability and legitimacy of agendas

when the boundary between public and private sectors is so blurred (Healey 2007 p 19).

Government no longer appears as the focal point of urban and regional planning but just as one

of many players in these network type configurations. de Jong et al. (2008) identifies that as a

result planners ‘find themselves in the midst of whirls of complexity and conflict, performing

difficult institutional work in building new policy perspectives and ideas through which to

attempt to shape key aspects of (spatial) development’ (p 6).

Australian airports & neoliberalism

In the Australian airport context neoliberal ideologies facilitated the decision to commercialise a

core group of nationally significant airports through the establishment of the Federal Airports

Corporation (FAC) in 1988. The FAC operated its airports along commercial lines utilising the



governance, management and incentive strategies of the private sector as a means of generating

profit in what would be preparation for the privatisation of those airports.

The establishment of the Airports Act 1996 may be recognised as one of the most complete case

studies of the application of neoliberal ideals to achieve free market controls on public assets

(Freestone et al. 2006; Freestone 2010). It also acutely illustrates the impacts of market forces

on urban planning: ‘the fast tracking of approvals; use of special-purpose development

corporations; insulating critical decisions from community inputs; public-private partnerships;

and various forms of entrepreneurial deal-making and private planning’ (Freestone 2007, in

Thompson (Ed) 2007 p 84).

The consequences for airport and regional land use planning under the Airports Act 1996 have

been significant. The privatisation of the airport included both the aviation infrastructure and

the land assets within the airport boundary. As such when the first draft airport master plans

were presented2 to the federal government many of the airports outlined their expectations for

not only airside aviation expansion but also landside ‘airport city’ developments. Many of these

landside proposals had little to do with the aviation function of the airport and consisted of

warehouse style retail development and commercial office space (Freestone et al. 2006). The

airport lessees argued they had paid a premium for these assets with no restrictions on land use

and development other than compliance with the Airports Act, which did not require them to

gain local, state or territory government consent.

At the time, the consequences of privatisation, and the impacts of the emerging airport city

paradigm, on local and regional land use planning was not well recognised or understood by

government stakeholders. Surrounding local governments were largely taken by surprise by

these federally sanctioned developments, and worse, they had no avenues for appeal or

influence. Local, state and territory governments were not privy to the federal government’s

privatisation negotiations and had expected that on-airport development would be

predominately aviation oriented. The political fragmentation and indeed mistrust between

levels of government has done little to assist the organisation of a shared and coordinated

response to on-airport land use planning (Donnet & Keast 2010).

On-airport land use planning and development is recognised as a direct challenge to local and

state government decision-making power and their ability to plan urban and regional

2 A draft master plan is required within 12 months after the acquisition or grant of airport lease (Airports Act 1996 Part 5 Division 3/75(1c)).



environments. Local government in particular took exception to their exclusion of airport

planning processes. For some it was that on-airport planning was outside of (long planned and

community sanctioned) local and regional intent; for others it was the lack of a level playing

field for developers within the same regional game; and for others still it was primarily

regarding the ‘missing’ revenue from rates and contributions to infrastructure – and for most it

was all of these reasons. Airports were challenging the fundamental business of local

government in their own backyard and urban and regional decision-making at across all levels

of government had changed (Baker & Freestone 2008).

The Airports Act establishes broad requirements for development approvals through the master

plan and major development plan processes. However, the criteria used by the federal

government for actually assessing individual proposals remains unknown to the airports, local,

state and territory governments alike. In 2003 the ability of the federal government and the

Airports Act to determine and approve ‘entrepreneurial’ on-airport development was tested in

the Federal Court. It was a case closely followed by all airports and represented a test of the

legislation to allow airports to develop regionally dependant retail and commercial facilities. In

2005, Justice Cooper ruled in favour of the airports ultimately providing much of the required

and desired precedents for all privatised airports to establish their own real estate development

agendas (FCA 2005).

A research response and a policy response

It was in response to this changing role of airports and in recognition of ongoing airport and

regional conflict that in 2006 and 2007 the Airport Metropolis Research Project was conceived,

developed and funded as an Australia Research Council Linkage Project (LP0775225), led by the

Queensland University of Technology. This multidisciplinary international research response

brought together academia, airport lessees and local, state and federal government stakeholders

and policy-makers to address the changing role of airports in Australia. This airport and

regional land use planning thesis is part of the broader Airport Metropolis Research Project.

Also in 2007 the federal government announced a policy response to the changing role of

airports in Australia by way of a National Aviation Policy Review. This announcement and the

consequent development of the first aviation policy for Australia added to both the significance

and complexity of the Airport Metropolis Research Project. The review process progressed from



an ‘Issues Paper’ in April 2008 through to a ‘Green Paper’ in December 2008 to a ‘White Paper’

released in December 20093.

The availability of comment, opinion and accusation resulting from the ‘Issues’ and ‘Green’

paper submissions, did little to make the land use planning research task any easier. While the

decision-makers and stakeholders familiar with the Airport Metropolis Research Project

continued to support the land use research, other key state and local government personnel did

require some assurances to the rigour and confidentiality of the research process. Many were

cautious in responding to research prior to final policy determinations being made by the

federal government. Despite some delays, the policy review process did ensure that research

participants were in the most part aware of, and willing to discuss their issues with informed

‘authority’ from both their perspective and that of the opposing view.

Undertaking the land use planning component of the Airport Metropolis Research Project

within the context of parallel policy change has allowed for a broader appreciation of the

complexity of the issues faced by all stakeholders. It has demonstrated that traditional sectorial

and territorial planning does not have the capacity to manage or assist in understanding and

reconciling the unique issues and complexities of privatised and public sector airport and

regional land use planning.

Following the release of the National Aviation Policy White Paper airport stakeholders are

anticipating an increasingly prescriptive approach from the federal government to the means

and mechanics of airport stakeholder consultation. However, many of the prescriptive policy

directives intended to aid airport and regional stakeholder communicative relations still

assume that planning for evolving ‘airport regions’ is clear and unambiguous.

It is argued that this mandated communicative response allows for little innovation in airport

and regional dialogue and may present the corporate decision-maker with simply a regulatory

requirement (Bengs 2005; Peck et al. 2009; Purcell 2009; Sager 2005).The success and worth of

such approaches is yet to be determined, however Innes and Booher (2004) identify that there

is a multitude of shortcomings of prescriptive and legally required public participation and

stakeholder consultation processes. In recognition of the power relationships and complexities

associated with contemporary planning that these methods ‘not only do not meet most basic

goals for [public] participation, but they are also counterproductive, causing anger and mistrust’

(p 419).

3 Further detail regarding the National Aviation Policy Review is provided in Section 2.8 and Chapter 5.



The airport metropolis interface model developed and applied within this thesis recognises the

need to offer new ways of urban interpretation to ensure joint public and private strategies for

spatial development and regional governance are established.

RESEARCH PROBLEM 1.3

The changing role of the modern airport has recast the planning and policy frameworks

between the airport and the region. Public and private stakeholders are challenged in planning

for mutual and cooperative airport and regional development. Australian airport and regional

land use planning is occurring in isolation, resulting in incompatible land use and development

decisions both on airport land and in the surrounding metropolitan region (Freestone et al.

2006; Spiller 2006).

Cooperative airport and regional development is inhibited under the airport ownership

structure in Australia where local and state government control of on-airport development is

limited to consultative processes, and no mechanism exists for airport operator input into

regional development. Local and municipal governments consider airport commercial and retail

development has the potential to impact on the viability of urban centre retailing through the

diversion of expenditure, often away from planned and intended centres of employment and

commerce (FCA 2005). Airport operators are similarly alarmed by local land use planning for

residential development under flight paths as well as high-rise airspace interference. The

Airports Act 1996 allows no provisions for either stakeholder to endorse, influence or veto land

use planning decisions of the other.

New ‘land use’ planning and policy knowledge is required to better ensure that potential and

opportunity for both the airport and the surrounding region is maximised through compatibility

and certainty in land use. The reciprocal impacts and influences of on-airport and metropolitan

land use are not well recognised by stakeholders and decision-makers.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1.4

The changing role of the modern airport has planning and policy implications for airport and

regional land use. The purpose of this thesis is: to inform and enhance approaches to land use

planning for airports and adjacent metropolitan regions in Australia. To advance the

purpose of the thesis the following three research questions will be addressed:



1. How has the role of the airport changed in Australia, and what are the

implications for cooperative development with the adjacent urban region?

2. How can the complexity of the integrated and reciprocal airport and regional

impacts be conceptualised to assist policy, practice and research?

3. What are the airport and regional stakeholder perspectives with regard to the

potential conflicts and opportunities in the establishing collaborative and

cooperative land use planning?

These research questions reflect a process of constructing new knowledge to assist in the

development of land use planning and policy for coordinated, integrated and compatible airport

and regional development.

Question 1 is addressed through a review of the literature regarding national and international

airport management and planning. The terms ‘airport city’ and ‘airport metropolis’ are used

here to conceptualise the ad hoc and strategic growth of aeronautical and non-aeronautical land

developments occurring at, and surrounding modern airports worldwide. The context of the

‘airport metropolis’ may be considered as including the spatial area of influence between and

airport and its urban hinterland.

Normative theories of modern airport development are identified and explored to reveal the

issues at the core of airport and regional planning. The identification of the airport as a focus for

logistics, and as a function of transport based urban development, has been recognised as an

‘aerotropolis’ (Kasarda, 1991). The ‘airfront’ (Blanton, 2004) is recognised as the collection of

aviation related industries and services attracted to, and located within, the airport hinterland.

While the ‘aviapolis’ (Finavia, 2004) is the marketing and development of an aviation orientated

business hub, centred on an airport.

Question 2 is addressed through the identification and assembly of the airport and urban

development ‘interface’ issues of economic development, land use, infrastructure, and

governance. The developing ‘airport metropolis’ model acknowledges the reciprocal nature of

these interfaces and allows the complex issues attached to airport and urban development to

better understood. This integrative model recognises the nature and importance of

international, national, regional and local drivers of airport and urban growth and the need for

sustainable balanced development.



Question 3 is addressed by operationalising the model through a workshop and semi –

structured interviews using the Australian case studies of Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra.

Within this context the model will be used as a framework to explore and detail airport and

urban land use planning stakeholder perspectives.

RESEARCH STRATEGY – COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY APPROACH 1.5

While this research explores issues and opportunities that impact all airport and regional

development in Australia, it is also required to identify and evaluate contextual issues which

may be specific to a particular circumstance. As such, the research program will, in part, use a

comparative case study approach to assist in the understanding of ‘in practice’ airport and

regional land use planning. This type of empirical inquiry is useful to provide an investigation of

a contemporary issue where the ‘boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly

evident; and in which multiple sources of data are used’ (Yin 2003 p 13).

Brisbane, Queensland; Adelaide, South Australia; and Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

were selected as the case study regions as each presents:

1. Significant variance in their airport and regional administrative regimes – Canberra is

within a territory governance framework adjacent to the state of NSW; Adelaide is

surrounded by multiple local government areas; and Brisbane is within a singular local

government area.

2. Acknowledged regional land use planning conflict – each airport has evidenced conflict

with adjacent land use planning authorities.

3. The capacity for further on-airport non-aviation land use development – each airport

has completed significant on-airport non aeronautical development and has the capacity

and intention for further development. Each of the case studies is briefly introduced as

follows.

Brisbane, Queensland 1.5.1

Brisbane Airport is Australia’s third-largest airport in terms of passenger movements, servicing

18.9 million passengers in 2009–10 (DITRDLG 2011b). Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC)

administers and manages a 2400ha airport site 12 km to the north east of the Brisbane central

business district. Brisbane City Council is the sole local government administration which

adjoins the airport site and the most directly impacted by the airports operation. The



Queensland state government also plays an important role in regional land use planning and

administration through the provision of aviation orientated state planning policy and the South

East Queensland Regional Plan 2009 – 2031.

Adelaide, South Australia 1.5.2

Adelaide Airport is Australia’s fifth-largest airport in terms of total passenger movements,

servicing 7.02 million passengers in 2009–10 (DITRDLG 2011b). The airport site is 785ha and

located approximately 6 km west of the Adelaide central business district, and is administered

and managed by Adelaide Airport Limited (AAL). Four local government areas surround the

airport and are directly affected by the operation of the airport. Adelaide airport is within the

boundary of the City of West Torrens, while the cities of Holdfast Bay, Adelaide and Charles

Sturt are adjacent to the airport. The South Australian state government plays an important role

in planning for Adelaide through The 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide (2010).

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 1.5.3

Canberra Airport had a total of 3.26 million passenger movements in 2009–10 (DITRDLG,

2011b). The airport site is 436ha and located 6 km from the Canberra central business district

and is administered and managed by Capital Airport Group (CAG). The administrative context

for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is unique in that there is no ‘state’ government or

lower house ‘local’ government - it is a federally administered territory government. Many of

the planning approvals for the ACT are managed by the ACT Planning and Land Authority. In

addition, the National Capital Authority has planning and approval powers in ‘those areas of

continuing interest in the strategic planning, promotion, development and enhancement of

Canberra as the National Capital’ (NCA 2010 p 7). The airport is adjacent to the state of New

South Wales (NSW) and two local government areas within NSW, Queanbeyan and Palerang are

subject to noise impacts from the operation of Canberra Airport.

DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS 1.6

This research is principally concerned with exploring and analysing airport and adjacent local,

state and territory government perspectives and decision-making on airport and regional land

use planning relationships, process, and outcomes. It should be noted that this research is not

specifically concerned with the operation of the airport as an aviation hub. It is interested in the

impacts of on-airport non-aeronautical retail and commercial land uses and neighbouring

municipal land use planning. This research seeks to inform and enhance approaches to land use



planning for airports and adjacent metropolitan regions in Australia. In line with this approach

the data collection and stakeholder interviews have focussed on the key airport and regional

land use planning decision-makers, largely to the exclusion of the airlines and surrounding

residents.

In a thesis by publication the expectation is that the methods utilised within each chapter are

articulated clearly in the publication. While this is true here, there is value in providing

additional background and understanding regarding the selection of methods. This section will

highlight and expand on the research methods utilised within the publications presenting them

in turn.

Geographic information system (GIS) land use analysis (Chapter 3) 1.6.1

From 2005 there was growing evidence (both anecdotal and in the literature) that privatised

airports in Australia were undertaking, or planning to undertake, significant on-airport land use

development (Ferguson 2007; Freestone et al. 2006; Stevens 2006; Vedelago 2007). To

determine the facts, it would be necessary to provide a clearer understanding of the current and

intended on-airport land use. At this time there was no means by which a comparative analysis

of development could be undertaken as each airport had their own classifications and

descriptions for on-airport land use.

Utilising a popular Geographic Information System (GIS) - ArcGIS (ESRI 2008) this research was

able to establish, for the first time, a method for the comparative analysis of actual and intended

on-airport development across a range of airport contexts. The process of land use

classification and evaluation proceeded in 3 stages.

1. The land use information of each airport master plan was geo-referenced (the map

image is referenced to a geographical location) in the GIS.

2. A common land use nomenclature was established in consideration of all actual and

intended on-airport development.

3. The land uses on each airport were reclassified and mapped into the GIS to allow for the

calculation of the total area for each zoning category.

Airport land use geo-referencing

The land use zoning information was obtained from twenty airport master plans submitted to

the Australian government as required by the Airports Act 1996. These master plans are



available at each of the airport’s website. Unfortunately the land use zoning information could

only be obtained as raster images (dot matrix images composed of pixels). As such, the first step

was to geo-reference the land use zoning information in the geographic information system

(GIS). Once geo-referenced the raster images were converted into polygon feature classes. This

was achieved by manually digitising each of the land use zones to create separate polygons in

the feature class. The attributes for each polygon contained the original land use zone

information obtained from the master plan image. The use of a manual digitising process was

feasible as the number of airports in the study group (20) was small.

Establish a common land use language

Whilst the Airports Act 1996 seeks to ensure a common planning language between airport

master plans and their municipal regions, no such land use zoning nomenclature exists

nationally. It was therefore necessary to re-classify the inconsistent airport master plan zoning

into a common set of zoning categories. The classification categories were informed by the

United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) Modified Anderson Classification System (1976;

1997). This system is useful for the interpretation and understanding of urban land use (Ding et

al. 2007; Weng 2002). Without such a re-classification the comparison of the respective land use

zones would be impossible. The descriptions of the re-classified zoning categories are shown in

Table 1 (over page).

Table 1: Zoning Categories

Zoning Category Description Airport Airside Aviation operational areas, terminal and aviation

support areas Residential Predominant use is housing Commercial Retail, business, community, leisure,

entertainment, recreation, hotels, conference facilities, shopping centres (will largely be non-aeronautical

Commercial and Industrial Mixed use commercial and industrial Industrial Warehousing, freight, manufacturing, service

orientated businesses (may be either aeronautical or non-aeronautical)

RAAF Base Military airbase of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The Australian Department of Defence has planning and control of this area

Open space and conservation Open areas, nature based recreation areas, protected areas.

Reclassification of airport land use



The final step of the process was to calculate the percentage of total area for each zoning

category. The polygon feature class automatically calculates polygon areas as they are digitised.

A simple GIS attribute query was written to calculate the percentages from this information. It

was then possible to acknowledge and discuss the comparative percentages of landside

development, between airports, in addition to presenting the number of standard deviations

this figure represents from the mean. This analysis offers an indication of an airport’s

development in consideration of the group providing a better suggestion of how the airports

actual and intended on-airport development fits within the national profile. Ongoing and

longitudinal analysis using this method would be useful to indicate how on-airport land use

zoning may change over time as an airport continues to develop.

Land Use Forums - participatory action research (Chapter 6) 1.6.2

The use of Land Use Forums, through a workshop approach, is intended here as participatory

action research. That is, as a social process of collaborative learning through the investigation of

actual practices (Kemmis & McTaggart 2005). When applied in consideration of the

communicative action theory underpinning this research, it offers an ‘opportunity to create

forums in which people can join one another as co-participants in the struggle to remake the

practices in which they interact’ (p 563).

A Land Use Forum was organised and facilitated within each of the case studies with the aim of

creating a circumstance in which airport and regional stakeholders could work collaboratively.

The airport metropolis conceptual model was operationalised and provided a framework for

research and discussion allowing participants to generate information which would ultimately

assist the understanding of airport and regional land use planning. This participatory research

method is recognised as being able to create: ‘a communicative space in which communicative

action is fostered among participants and in which problems and issues can be thematisized for

critical exploration aimed at overcoming dissatisfaction, irrationality and injustice’ (Kemmis &

McTaggart 2005 p 580).

The purpose of the Forums was fourfold: i) to identify stakeholders; ii) identify the range of

views and policy positions; iii) identify key issues, challenges and opportunities; and iv) further

foster interaction and relationships with stakeholders.

While the Land Use Forums ultimately served to inform several research areas of the Airport

Metropolis Research Project, they were initiated and organised by this author to inform airport

and regional land use planning practice and policy. Figure 2 details the organisational process

undertaken to facilitate the Land Use Forums.



Figure 2 Land Use Forum organisational process

The dissemination of outcomes; management of staff and co-facilitation of these forums were key responsibilities of this author (Figure 3 & 4). The role of the facilitator in this type of action research is acknowledged as a significant contributor of the success of the research. McTaggart (2002) highlights that the facilitator is not a ‘process consultant’ but moves more

towards contributing in the personal and social exchanges that brought participants together. As such, the role of the facilitator cannot be considered as a position of neutrality. This would be unreasonable and undesirable in recognition of the communicative expectation of the forum and the role already played within the organisation, format development, invitation extensions, and ultimately

analysis of the data. The facilitator has a social responsibility in assisting change and to view facilitation as neutral

Figure 3 Adelaide Land Use Forum - April 2008

Figure 4 Brisbane Land Use Forum - August 2008



devalues the research and inhibits the acknowledgment of the multiple realities of different participants and observers (McTaggart 2002).

Semi – structured interviews - qualitative understanding (Chapter 7) 1.6.3

The semi-structured interview is often used in policy research as this method is considered to

provide greater breadth of information than other interview techniques given their qualitative

nature (Harrell & Bradley 2009). The key goal of semi-structured interviews is to provide an

understanding of the respondent’s point of view. As such it is considered paramount to establish

rapport with respondents during the interview process - it is conversational style of interview

(ibid).

Between May 2009 and August 2010 a total of twenty four (24) airport and local, state and

territory government stakeholder interviews were undertaken within the cases studies of

Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra. The semi-structured interview method was well suited for the

exploration of stakeholder perceptions and opinions regarding the complex issues around land

use. It allowed for more detailed information and the clarification of answers. From a

communicative planning perspective semi-structured interviews are a method which provides

for a high validity as respondents are able to talk about issues in depth. Importantly they also

allow for other avenues of discussion to be undertaken during the course of the interview as a

result of the respondents answers (Barriball & While 1994).

Here also the interviewer is acknowledged as active in the research, however the semi-

structured method limits the impact of ‘pre judging’ the answers by being tied to a set of

definitive interview questions (Harrell & Bradley 2009). It is a flexible and useful method and

one that indeed supports the communicative understanding of this research. Perceived

weaknesses of this method include that it is time consuming, both in undertaking and data

analysis, and that it lacks sufficient consistency. However through the establishment of key

themes from the Land Use Forums (Chapter 6) a framework for discussion was created limiting

this perceived weakness.

Thematic analysis - qualitative analysis (Chapter 6 & 7) 1.6.4

For the analysis and interpretation of both the transcribed workshop data (Chapter 6) and the

transcribed semi-structured interview data (Chapter 7) an inductive thematic analysis was



utilised. Broadly, thematic analysis is a qualitative method where through coding and analysing

a data set, themes are identified (Boyatzis 1998; Fereday & Muir-Cochrane 2006). It is

important to acknowledge that themes do not ‘emerge’ from the data, but that the researcher is

indeed active in the process having either outlined specific questions or in this case a research

framework around which the data has been collected.

For the research within the following publications the thematic analyses may be described as

‘data driven’ as the coding was not undertaken to identify particular features of the data set.

Braun & Clarke (2006) highlight that: ‘A theme captures something important about the data in

relation to the research question, and represents some level of patterned response or meaning

within the data set’ (p 82).

The process of thematic analysis undertaken for this research was sourced as a step-by-step

guide by Braun & Clarke (2006 p 86 - 93) and involved 6 key phases (Table 2).

Table 2: Phases of Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke 2006 p 87)

Phase Description of the process

1. Familiarising yourself with your data

Transcribing data, reading and rereading the data, noting down initial ideas.

2. Generating initial codes Coding interesting features of the data in a systematic fashion across the entire data set, collating data relevant to each code.

3. Searching for themes Collating codes into potential themes, gathering all data relevant to each potential theme.

4. Reviewing themes Checking the themes work in relation to the coded extracts (Level 1) and the entire data set (Level 2)

5. Defining and naming themes Ongoing analysis to refine the specifics of each theme, and the overall story the analysis tells; generating clear definitions and names for each theme.

6. Producing the report The final opportunity for analysis. Selection of vivid, compelling extract examples, final analysis of selected extracts, relating back of the analysis to the research question and literature, producing a scholarly report of the analysis.



COMMUNICATIVE PLANNING THEORY 1.7

There is an imperative need to understand and indeed to ‘get to know’ both the issues and the

motivations of decision-makers and stakeholders associated with airport and regional land use

planning. Communicative planning as assessment of relationships is central to the core role of

the planner and planning researcher. It is established through accessing the knowledge and

identifying the ways and means by which decisions are produced, protected and provided

(Forester 1999; Healey 2007).

Drawing on the work of communicative and collaborative theorists this research endeavours to

inform and enhance approaches to land use planning for airports and adjacent metropolitan

regions in Australia. The use of theory will assist in the establishment and delivery of a

collaborative model for progressing airport and regional development, and will also offer a

robust guide for the method of this research.

Communicative planning theory is offered as a rationale for the development and

establishment of processes that allow for undistorted communication and decision-making free

from power manipulation and self-interest (Forester 1989; Healey 1999; Mouat et al. 2011). It is

recognised as the right theory when considering the nature of airport and regional land use

planning begins from a foundation of distorted, unclear and ambiguous communication and self-

interested decision-making from positions of power. Communicative planning is useful in

offering advantages to understanding the competing public and private interests around airport

and urban land use planning.

The neoliberal agenda has established new partnerships and networks which while promoted

as providing market efficiencies are considered less accessible and indeed transparent than the

previous central government organisation. They are exclusive in process with limited

accountability, creating anxiety and suspicion amongst the broader society and even between

levels of government (Mouat et al. 2011; Peck and Tickell 2002). Airport and regional land use

planning in Australia requires the identification and understanding of alternate stakeholder

positions if possibilities for mutually beneficial airport and regional development are to be

revealed.

The research task here is not to calculate the right solution for a problem, but increase

stakeholder capacity to define their own problems and work through avenues of response with

them (Hillier 2002). Communicative theory will deliver a scaffold whereby power structures



are not overcome but identified and allow for the generation of options (Hillier 2007). Used in

this manner it may allow for mutual recognition that the value and success of the airport or the

region is, to a large extent, reliant on the success of the other. Importantly, a good collaborative

planning process does not necessarily need to result in building of consensus, it may also lead to

the building of a policy discourse or a way by which parties learn to understand and respect

each other. Further it may lead to stakeholders recognising how power is shared, ensuring the

facts and foundations of conflict and opportunity are understood by all (Healey 2001; Hillier

2007).

Spatial governance

A new communicative ‘model’ is required for a better understanding of the manifestation and

interpretation of airport and regional land use planning practice and policy. de Jong et al. (2008;

2008a) propose a ‘relational planning framework’ for the management of land use issues in the

European airport context. de Jong et al. (2008) argue that not only are joint strategies for spatial

development required, but a regional governance approach is necessary - traditional planning

allows for little innovation; providing plans, maps and geographic representations to deal with

an issue of increasing complexity (p 3). Schaafsma (2008a) in de Jong (2008) also endorses this

idea: ‘airport regions are a new reality, often still overlooked by planners and policy makers’ (p

6). Freestone (2010) casts the airport as ‘a new kind of urban space’ (p 129). He contends that

much of the future success of airports will ‘rely on the transparency of balanced decision-

making and the readiness of state governments to conceive of airport regions as integrated

planning entities in their own right’ (p 129).

Healey (1999), in considering institutional analysis and shaping places, offers that:

‘communicative planning theory provides suggestions for the design of intricate governance

practices in which creative responses can be encouraged, social learning improved and

institutional capital transformed’ (Healey 1999 p 120).

A new model of collaborative practice

The use of communicative planning is foundational in the development and application of a

‘collaborative practice’ airport metropolis interface model. It is intended to allow for the

development of a ‘richer and more broadly based understanding and awareness of locality

relations and conflicts’ (Healey 1999 p 116). Such a platform will assist in the identification of a

network of stakeholders and decision-makers which operate both formally and informally with

regards to communication and participation against a backdrop of neoliberal power relations.



It will permit stakeholders and researchers to identify the interrelations, dependencies and

potential conflicts between the interfaces of economic development, land use, infrastructure

and governance. In recognition of communicative and collaborative practice it may also assist in

developing shared responses and responsibilities to resolving conflict and identifying

opportunities across stakeholder and decision-maker networks (Booher & Innes 2002). The

airport metropolis model developed here is intended to allow for growth and understanding of

(often disparate) stakeholder positions. From a network power perspective this is the

development of a ‘jointly held resource’, and moving away from the current closely guarded

‘mechanical’ power relationships (Booher & Innes 2002). Presently these individual decision-

making resources are closely guarded assets and inhibit the development of shared

responsibilities. Further Booher & Innes (2002) recognise: ‘network power emerges as diverse

participants in a network focus on a common task and develop shared meanings and common

heuristics that guide their action. The power grows as these players identify and build on their

interdependencies to create new potential’ (p 225).

However the continued conflict does allow for the agonistic components of the system to

emerge and provides important reciprocal insight into motivations and provides for mutual

awareness of alternate perspectives (Brand & Gaffikin 2007; Mouat et al. 2011). The airport

metropolis model provides a means by which all communicative options of both consensus and

conflict may be explored and all stakeholders may recognise their place and power in the

dialogue, policy and practice of airport and regional planning.

It is important to note that the model developed within this research, unlike many participatory

and consensus building communicative practices and frameworks, is not intended to assist

public participation. It is intended to allow stakeholders and decision-makers faced with

planning complexities to organise and recognise their own and the places of other agencies,

private partners, and industry organisations within the complex and evolving reality of airport

and regional land use planning practice and policy. It is a starting point for clarification and

discussion; it is not a model of problem resolution but one of identification. To seek to provide

the ideal conditions for authentic dialogue is naïve, yet in providing the steps towards

participation this research may begin to move beyond the separation that has emerged from the

airport and regional planning and policy processes to date.

Contributions to theory

This work makes a significant contribution to the debates on relational forms of governance and

the potential of the ‘urban region’ (airport metropolis) as a focus of political and policy attention



(de Jong et al. 2008; 2008a; Healey 2007). There is a need for spatial strategy making focussed

around urban areas. The airport metropolis may be placed within the theoretical planning

conceptualisations of ‘urban regions’ and the potential of ‘imagined cities’ (de Jong et al. 2008;

Healey 2002; 2007; Vigar et al. 2005)

This research also makes a contribution to the knowledge and literature surrounding

communicative planning theory and neoliberalism (Gunder 2010; Purcell 2009; Sager 2005;

2011). Indeed, Bengs (2005) in Gunder (2010) contends that:

‘planning theory, and hence spatial planning, is simply ideology facilitating governance motives of neoliberal globalisation, with the concept of ‘bottom-up’ communicative planning being deployed to especially empower key stakeholders in articulating their wants and hegemonically achieving them’. . . ‘the main function of communicative planning theory is to lubricate the neo-liberal economy, and in particular the workings of the real estate market’ (p 330).

Sager’s (2011) comprehensive literature review of neoliberal urban planning policies highlights

the spatial consequences, and maps their effects on ‘urban economic development,

infrastructure provision, management of commercial areas, housing and neighbourhood

renewal’ (p 148). Both the Airports Act 1996 and indeed the recently released National Aviation

Policy may be understood to represent neoliberal urban planning policies. Significantly within

Sager’s (2011) analysis of ‘Private sector involvement in financing and operating transport’ he

details the neo-planning policies for airports and the literature on the privatisation of

Australian airports receives significant attention (Charles et al. 2007; Forsyth 2002; Freestone

et al. 2006; Freestone & Baker 2010; Hooper et al. 2000; May & Hill 2006).

This work adds also to the long planning tradition of fixity and mobility; land use and

infrastructure; and places and flows. That is, the expression of networks and the dynamic

understanding around socio-spatial and socio-political relations of space, economy and global

governance (Castells 1996; 2002; Healey 2007; Waddell 2002).

This research agenda, like Healey’s (1999) description of the purpose of communicative

planning theory seeks: ‘to contribute to transferring governance cultures – to provide concepts,

critical criteria and examples of open and participative governance through which conceptions

of place qualities can be articulated, debated, disassembled and used to focus and inform

initiatives and responses to change’ (p 117).

While future conflict is forecast as inevitable, it is hoped that the model offered here for the

conceptualisation of the airport metropolis (airport region) presents a way forward for



understanding, interpretation, and the development of airport and regional land use planning

practice and policy.

SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH 1.8

This research is significant for three key reasons:

1. This research improves and develops a conceptual model to better assist the interpretation

and management of airport and regional development, in consideration of multiple

interdependent interfaces: economic development; land use, infrastructure and governance.

It is an innovative framework for both research and policy and facilitates, for the first time,

the comparative analyses of airport and urban impact across a range of airport contexts. The

advancement of the model is a significant knowledge claim and theoretical contribution of

this thesis.

2. Through the application and practical development of the airport metropolis conceptual

model this research makes a significant contribution to knowledge regarding airport and

regional land use planning. The research presents three key issues as contributing to the

fragmentation of airport and regional land use: 1) current legislative and policy

frameworks; 2) competing stakeholder priorities and interests; and 3) inadequate

coordination and disjointed decision-making. The research makes a significant contribution

to communicative planning practice through the identification and examination of airport

and regional stakeholder perceptions of land use relationships, processes and outcomes to

allow for improved understanding, collaboration and cooperation.

3. To ensure validity and grounding of this research, it is important to establish both

substantive and procedural theory as a framework for analyses. This research is

additionally significant as it makes a contribution to communicative planning theory in

offering the conceptual model. Communicative theory has been used to help guide the

method of research in addition to providing rigour and identifying the reach of the research

findings. A sound theoretical approach has served as a reminder and directed the research

towards problems and issues which may otherwise have been overlooked.



THE AIRPORT METROPOLIS INTERFACE MODEL 1.9

Within this research the changing role of the airport and its reciprocal impacts with the

surrounding urban area has been conceptualised as the ‘airport metropolis’ (Stevens et al.

2010). The approach is to draw on the meta-concept of interfaces of an ‘airport metropolis’ as

an organising device for comprehending the complexity and planning aspects of airport and

regional activity centres. Four interface domains are recognised as interdependent and integral

to the acknowledgement and development of the airport metropolis: economic development,

land use, infrastructure, and governance (Figure 5 over page).

Economic Development occurs at the airport and its host region as a result of airport-centric

activities. It is considered important to be able to recognise and understand the range of direct,

indirect and induced financial and social economic impacts of the airport and ensure

opportunities for regional, national and international benefit are maximised.

Land Use involves the geographical/geophysical resources of the airport and the region. Land

use is recognised as having both social and biophysical environmental impacts. The best

management of these impacts may be through the use of planning schemes and strategies which

incorporate development trends, existing land use patterns, land characteristics, identified

human and physical characteristics of the land, and desired and possible future uses. A

fundamental relationship is compatibility between airport master planning and land use

planning beyond the airport boundary.

Infrastructure includes large-scale installations that connect and service commercial, industrial,

residential and cultural nodes of the airport metropolis. Typical elements are roads, railways,

utilities, freight and service interchanges, and, of increasing importance, information and

communication technology (ICT). Infrastructure is recognised as fundamental for airport

efficiency and development capacity, but must be balanced with ensuring regional connections

are not made at the expense of local connectivity (Graham & Marvin 2001).

Governance refers to the legislative arrangements and institutionalised processes that have

been designed or have evolved to guide the social structures and behaviours of organisations

within the airport metropolis. Governance is also recognised as the function or administration

of policy and actions of all kinds, and in its many forms has led to the emergence of the variety

of models of airport development and operation.



Figure 5 Airport Metropolis Interface Model

The airport metropolis interface model provides for an understanding of the influence of

airports as urban phenomena and their catchments of influence. The appropriate management,

understanding and consequent development of the airport metropolis has direct relevance to

the urban character and design of our cities, their liveability, safety and connectivity regionally,

nationally and internationally.

Sustainability and the Airport Metropolis 1.9.1

The concept of sustainable development and the maintenance of sustainable ecological, social

and economic systems are intended as the framework for all tiers of government policy in

Australia (Australian Government 1992). More broadly there is an expectation that

sustainability will, or indeed has, permeated all private and public decision-making (Gibson

2006; Wiek & Binder 2005). In reality its application and definition are often misused and much

maligned. In examining the airport metropolis and more specifically the issues of airport and

regional land use planning practice and policy, sustainability requires careful consideration.

How is it possible to balance the expectations of leasehold aviation hubs and multi-purpose

regional activity centres with the local needs and aspirations for long term sustainable spatial

development? Does the notion of sustainability fit within the discussion of market forces and

privatisation?

It has been argued that the objectives of the free market and broader regional sustainability

objectives are being driven further apart over time, or indeed splintering (Graham 2001;



Graham & Marvin 2001). Furlong & Bakker (2010) offer the concept of ‘liberal

environmentalism’ to assist in understanding of how neoliberal reforms are compatible with

environmental management and improvement. Proponents of liberal environmentalism argue

that ‘where possible environmental ends are best achieved by market ends’ (p 355). In the local

airport circumstance the issues of sustainability may become good business and are levered as

part of broader community engagement and ‘good neighbour’ strategies (BAC 2009).

In the context of this research five sustainability criteria have been identified – economic

efficiency; environment; coordination; community; and security. These criteria all surface in

various combinations in sustainability studies, but are adopted here from leading practice work

established within the Community Research Portfolio of the European Commission. The

PROSPECTS (Procedures for Recommending Optimal Sustainable Planning of European City

Transport Systems) project is funded under the European Commission’s Energy, Environment

and Sustainable Development Programme.

A Sustainable Development Definition

The Brundtland Report (1987) – Our Common Future – identifies that ‘sustainability’ represents an

approach to ‘sustainable development’ which reconciles economic, ecological and social equity

demands. It provides the following definition for sustainable development:

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the

ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:

1. the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and

2. the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs." (WCED 1987 p 47)

In 1992, Agenda 21, was drafted and administered by the United Nations as an outcome of the United

Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil. This

resolution was the most significant plan of action for the mobilisation of sustainable development and

intended as a global partnership. In response, all levels of Australian government adopted the

National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development, in 1992. This strategy still provides the

broad strategic directions and framework for all tiers of government to direct policy and decision-

making and defines ecologically sustainable development as: 'using, conserving and enhancing the

community's resources so that ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained, and the total

quality of life, now and in the future, can be increased' (Australian Government 1992).



PROSPECTS is designed to provide cities with guidance to generate optimal land use and

transport strategies to meet the challenge of sustainability in their particular circumstances. A

set of three guidebooks sums up this guidance. The Decision-Makers’ Guidebook (May 2003)

outlines the basic principles for Developing Sustainable Land Use and Transport Strategies. The

Methodological Guidebook (2003) is designed to support the Decision-Makers Guidebook and

covers the principles in further detail. The third guidebook, the Policy Guidebook (2003)

presents a range of land use and transport policy instruments that might be used to achieve the

objective of urban sustainability (European Commission 2003).

The sustainability objectives of PROSPECTS are organised here into four criteria: economic

efficiency, environment, coordination, and community. To these, a fifth is added, security, as a

vital consideration given the national importance and international connections of the modern

airport region. The rationalisation of these criteria is intended to better represent the

requirements of the Australian airport metropolis and offer guidance for both private and

public decision-makers to recognise and reflect upon their ongoing responsibilities and

aspirations.

1. Economic efficiency is conceptualised as denoting the strategically-focused

innovative evolution of economic activity that maintains and enhances a region’s

international competitive advantage in high value-adding growth and core industrial

sectors and their support industries.

2. Environment embraces the maintenance and enhancement of physical

environmental systems in ways that permit productive use for existing and future

generations.

3. Coordination denotes institutional evolution mechanisms that permit and facilitate

necessary changes in social structures in response to ongoing changes in global,

technical and bio-physical environments.

4. Community means resilient social and physical environments that maintain and

create interactive and cooperative behaviours that enhance individuals’ senses of

worth, place, community and well-being.

5. Security means resources and ongoing capacity to identify assess and respond to

possible emergency, crisis, and disaster events with significant potential to disrupt

social, economic and bio-physical processes in the region. A principal aim of

security at the airside interface is to prevent unlawful activities. Here, the focus

shifts regionally to the important nodes and networks of critical infrastructure



servicing and linked to the airport, which are also potential targets for crime and

terrorism (Wheeler 2005).

Operationalisation of the criteria

The airport metropolis interface model has proven to be invaluable as a normative framework

for articulating the complexities of the broader Airport Metropolis Research Project

(LP0775225). In this complex role the model is supported by the sustainability criteria as an

evaluation framework for the inclusion of data within the proposed decision support system

(Figure 6).

Figure 6 Airport Metropolis Research Design (Source: QUT (2006) - LP0775225 p4/10)

The airport metropolis model has also proved effective as a framework for the analysis of

practice and as a substantive basis for airport and regional land use research through Land Use

Forums. The model is intended as a robust structure with the ability to be stretched and

adapted to different circumstance. For instance it is possible for particular interfaces or

sustainability criteria to assume a greater, rather than equal weighting. This capacity allows for

enhanced research focus and applicability across the potential range of stakeholders,

circumstance and scale.

When operationalising the model during the research case study Land Use Forums (Chapter 4)

the land use interface was afforded a greater priority. It was placed as the central circumstance

allowing for focused yet distinct evaluations of airport and regional land use planning against



the other interfaces. Additionally the inclusion of the ‘environment’ sustainability criterion

allowed for the acknowledgement of the biophysical impacts of airport and regional land use

planning, but without the necessity of including the entire sustainability evaluation framework.

The intention was not to relegate the other sustainability criteria to a secondary role, but allow

for a prioritisation of land use planning ‘environment’ considerations. The flexibility of the

model is such that stakeholders and researchers have the capacity to prioritise any or all of the

interface domains, and they may also choose to apply different sustainability criteria relative to

the issues at hand.

OVERVIEW OF THESIS 1.10

This overview outlines the organisation of the publications (as thesis chapters) in addressing

the principal purpose of the research: to inform and enhance approaches to land use planning for

airports and adjacent metropolitan regions in Australia. Additionally this overview provides

details of the publications, the methods used, key findings and the relationship of the chapter to

the thesis.

Chapter 2: Literature Review - Understanding the Australian Airport 1.10.1Metropolis

Contributing Publication:

Stevens, Nicholas J., Baker, Douglas C., & Freestone, Robert (2007) Understanding the

Australian Airport Metropolis. In State of Australian Cities National Conference (SOAC), 28-30

November 2007, Adelaide. 110 – 120.

• Peer reviewed publication.

• Excellence in Research Australia (2010): Conference Ranking ‘A’ (ERA ID 44067)

• http://www.fbe.unsw.edu.au/cf/events/arcn/conference2007/SOAC/understandingthe

australianairportmetropolis.pdf

Overview:

The research here demonstrates that while the list of airport and regional impacts has grown

through time, treatments have remained highly specialised and contained within disciplinary

paradigms. This research assembles a distinct progression of central concerns regarding the

wider social, economic, technological and environmental role of the airport.



The ownership and management of airports is outlined as a key consideration in their

transformation to major urban activity nodes. The research examines the changes in Australian

airport ownership; the privatisation process; and highlights the role of land use planning and

land use policy as a key source of airport and urban conflict.

The changing role of airports in Australia and overseas is acknowledged and their emergence as

important sub-regional activity centres is highlighted. Three different theories of airport and

regional development are identified and discussed: aviapolis (Finavia 2004), airfront (Blanton

2004) and aerotropolis (Kasarda 2001). The research identifies that these airport development

theories are largely normative economistic conceptualisations and additionally lack explicit

acknowledgment of the wider urban system.

The paper outlines the need for the establishment of new models of airport and urban planning

and development. It argues that a better understanding of the influence of airports as urban

phenomena and their catchments of influence will assist all stakeholders in the management of

future growth and associated change. Further, that the appropriate management, understanding

and consequent development of airports has direct relevance to the urban character and design

of our cities, their liveability, safety and connectivity regionally, nationally and internationally.

Table 3: Chapter 2 Summary Method

• Desktop literature review

Key Findings

• The treatment of airports within the literature is contained within disciplinary paradigms.

• Assembles a progression of central concerns regarding the role of the airport within the Australian literature.

• Acknowledges and articulates the broader reciprocal urban impacts of modern airports, detailing current normative models of airport development.

• Advocates for new conceptual frameworks for understanding the airport and regional land use conflicts and opportunities.

Cumulative Impact

• This chapter provides the necessary base from which the research can progress to in-depth investigations of the changing role of Australian airports.

• This chapter establishes that land use is an issue which requires detailed examination for an understanding of the complex roles and spatial interactions now associated with airports.



Chapter 3: Airport city developments in Australia: land use classification and 1.10.2analyses


Walker, Arron R. & Stevens, Nicholas J. (2008) Airport city developments in Australia: land use

classification and analyses. In 10th TRAIL Congress and Knowledge Market, 14-15 October 2008,

Rotterdam, The Netherlands: 23 pages.

• Peer reviewed publication

• Since 1997 TRAIL has been the Dutch National Research School in the fields of

Transport, Infrastructure, and Logistics. It is a prestigious research collaborative

between Erasmus University of Rotterdam, Delft University of Technology, the

University of Groningen, University of Twente, Radboud University Nijmegen and

Eindhoven University of Technology.

• Link: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/17641/1/c17641.pdf

Overview:

This research analyses and details the on-airport land use planning intentions of Australian

privatised airports through document analysis of their legislatively required master plans. The

conceptual and methodological significance of this chapter is the development of a national land

use classification for on-airport development. It establishes these classifications through the

application of an international land use classification system for the remote sensing of urban

land use - United States Geological Surveys (USGS) Modified Anderson Classification System.

Utilising a geographical information system (GIS) this research provides for the first time a

means of comparative land use analysis and understanding across the range of Australian

airport contexts.

This research offers background to the rapid emergence of Australian on-airport planning for

landside retail and commercial facilities and briefly details the two key features of Australian

airport planning approvals: master plans and major development plans. All Australian airports

which are required to produce master plans under the Airports Act 1996 are included within the

study group. The aviation operations for each is detailed, including aircraft movements for the

previous year (and where applicable passenger and freight movements). The airports are also

classified into their aeronautical function (regular passenger transport (RPT), general aviation

(GA) and pilot training (PT) or any combination of the functions).



While there has been ad hoc analysis and media attention of high profile airport and regional

conflict there is limited recognition of the extent to which all privatised airports are intending to

develop landside assets. By enabling the comparison of on-airport land uses this research offers

airport and municipal planners a national reference for identifying the relationships between

aeronautical function and on-airport land use planning intention. Significantly it is recognised

that the amount of land being zoned for landside development has no relation to an airport’s

size (property area, or passenger and freight movement). However it was noted that all of the

airports in the study, regardless of aeronautical function, have zoned their land assets with

capitalisation of landside development in mind.

Each airport is then detailed in turn and the research offers an indication of an individual

airports development in consideration of the group. Thus providing a better suggestion of how

an airport’s actual and intended on-airport development fits within a national profile.

Table 4: Chapter 3 Summary

Method

• Document analysis of all privatised Australian airport master plans. • Geo-referencing of airport land use features into a Geographical information system

(GIS) – ESRI GIS and mapping software. • Establishment of land use classifications through the use of a United States Geological

Surveys (USGS) Modified Anderson Classification System.

Key

Findings

• Establishes a platform for comparative on-airport land use. • The strategy to diversify revenue at Australian airports has resulted in a spate of

development activity on airport property. • The amount of land being zoned for landside development has no relation to an

airport’s size. • All of the airports in the study group have zoned their land assets with capitalisation of

landside development.

Cumulative

Impact

• A significant shift towards establishing a substantive basis for broader dialogue between airport and regional planning.

• Evidences the anecdotal belief that significant on-airport development for land use capitalisation is occurring nationally.

• Strengthens the need for a better framework for interpreting airport and regional impact.



Chapter 4: Airports in their urban settings: towards a conceptual model of 1.10.3interfaces in the Australian context


Stevens, Nicholas J., Baker, Douglas C., & Freestone, Robert (2010) Airports in their urban

settings: towards a conceptual model of interfaces in the Australian context. Journal of Transport

Geography, 18(2): 276-284.


• Excellence in Research Australia (2010): Journal Ranking ‘B’ (ERA ID 19644)

• http://eprints.qut.edu.au/30001/1/c30001.pdf

Overview:

This paper outlines the more recent history of airports in Australia with a significant focus on

the issues of privatisation and urban conflict. It is established that the dominant driver of

privatised Australian airports is aeronautical and non-aeronautical development expansionism,

assisted in part by the legislative frameworks under which they are managed.

This research details new and significant interdependencies for Australian airport and urban

development including: catchments and catalysts for development; stakeholder motivation and

community needs; risks profiles associated with airport and regional relationships; and

intergovernmental coordination. From this platform the research develops the airport

metropolis interface model and delivers a framework for both research and policy. A key

strength of the model is the acknowledgement of the reciprocal impacts of economic

development, land use, infrastructure and governance interfaces. Each of these interfaces is

then explored in detail.

A key goal for the development of this model is to promote, and indeed provide, a balanced and

more sustainable approach to airport and regional development. The interface areas are

acknowledged as providing a framework for the integration of principles of sustainability, and

the research details five (5) criteria: economic efficiency, environment, coordination,

community and security.

Conceptually the model provides for broader stakeholder communicative practice and clearer

appreciation of the interdependencies of the airport metropolis, allowing for comparative

analyses across a range of airport contexts. Its development was assisted by airport and

regional stakeholder input, and applied at three case study Land Use Forums in 2008. The

http://eprints.qut.edu.au/30001/1/c30001.pdf



interface model draws from the Australian experience to re-conceptualise the changing and

complex role of airports in the urban environment. It has been developed here also as a

heuristic device to identify and organise key policy debates and as a potential decision-making

tool.

The research concludes by reinforcing that the overriding imperative is to move airport and

regional planning beyond the compartmentalise analysis of issues and provide a solution for the

recognition of conflict and opportunity through the airport metropolis.


Method

• Desktop literature review. • Airport and municipal document analysis. • Airport Metropolis workshops and Land Use Forums. • Informal communiqué with airport-lessee management. • Informal communiqué with city planning staff.

Key

Findings

• Continuing compartmentalised analyses of airport and regional impacts. • The changing role of the airport requires new sets of interdependent urban and airport

factors to be recognised. • In Australia the separateness of airport and regional land use planning is entrenched. • Land use both on and off the airport needs to be recognised in view of the issues that

arise from the growth of airports as regional and national activity centres. • A greater appreciation is needed of how the airport and region must be considered as

united, interdependent and integrated. • There are four key interfaces of the airport metropolis: economic development, land

use, infrastructure and governance.

Cumulative

Impact

• The establishment of the airport metropolis interface model. • Land use is central to the understanding and interpretation of airport and regional

development. • Acknowledgment of the National Aviation Policy Review.



Chapter 5: Managing airport land development under regulatory uncertainty 1.10.4


Freestone, Robert., Baker, Douglas,. & Stevens, Nicholas J. (2011) Managing airport land

development under regulatory uncertainty. Research in Transportation Business & Management

1(1): 101–108.


• New Elsevier Journal – This publication offers research on international aspects of

transportation management.

• http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/22105395

Overview:

This research explores airport managerial perceptions of, reactions to, and engagements with

the National Aviation Policy Review process. It highlights that the rise of the airport as a

business has not been without risk and no more so than susceptibility to political interference

and re-regulation. Regulatory uncertainty, it is argued, adds to the already sizeable airport risk

management burden, which includes not only the challenge of planning for aviation, but

increasingly the uncertainty of the commercial property markets.

This publication provides a detailed account of the privatisation of Australian airports and the

more recent National Aviation Policy Review process. The research focuses on the airport and

urban planning aspects of the review and highlights the policy intention of facilitating further

collaborative and indeed, communicative processes.

The research seeks to highlight the airport perspective on the review process, addressing key

themes of re-regulation: information delays and costs; the statutory fine print; diversity of

airports; and non-aeronautical development. The research is based on interviews, undertaken

by this author, with senior airport management, government hearings, industry forums and the

broader literature.

Four significant findings are presented from this paper. First, while airports have been

privatised there continues to be significant government involvement in the oversight roles.

Secondly, this ‘management’ has led to the recognition, by the airports at least, that planning

and consultation for the master plan is an iterative process. Thirdly, there is resistance by

national politicians to recognise modern airports as multi-functional; they are still largely

identified and measured by their core aviation role. Lastly and most importantly, is the greater

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/22105395



commitment expected to cooperative and collaborative off airport planning, a direction which is

necessary, but requires reciprocation by the surrounding urban and regional stakeholders.


Method

• Review of literature, including transcripts from government hearings and reports; and corporate submissions to enquires.

• Industry forums and conferences. • Airport management semi-structured interviews.

Key Findings

• Highlights some critical sources of commercial development uncertainty for Australian airports.

• Continued significant oversight and regulation of privatised airports by the government.

• The planning and consultation for the master plan is considered as an iterative process.

• There is political resistance to acknowledge the changing role of airports. • While there is a greater expectation to cooperative off airport planning, there is

ongoing and unresolved uncertainty for airports.

Cumulative Impact

• This chapter provides an important background for understanding and articulating the airport and urban tension around land use planning.

• Through the focus on planning and development regulations for airports the significance of land use as a central issue is emphasised.

• It articulates airport sentiment to the National Aviation Policy Review and reinforces the significance (and necessity) of bringing together airport and urban land use stakeholders though Land Use Forums in 2008.

Chapter 6: Land use conflict across the airport fence: competing urban policy, 1.10.5planning and priority in Australia


Stevens, Nicholas J. & Baker, Douglas (2011) Land use conflict across the airport fence:

competing urban policy, planning and priority in Australia. Urban Policy and Research

(submitted).


• Excellence in Research Australia (2010): Journal Ranking ‘A’ (ERA ID 5993)



Overview:

Following from the development of the airport metropolis interface model, and in parallel with

the National Aviation Policy Review, three Australian case studies (Brisbane, Adelaide, and

Canberra) are examined to detail the context of airport and regional land use planning.

Here the interface model is applied as an organising device and a framework for research. The

land use interface is placed as the central circumstance in consideration of the interface areas of

economic development, infrastructure and governance. Additionally the sustainability criterion

of ‘environment’ is included for the determination of the social and biophysical aspects of land

use planning.

The methodological approach of Land Use Forums was utilised as a communicative and

collaborative approach to bring over 120 airport and regional stakeholders together. In line

with planning for collaboration it was also important for this research to incorporate the views

of a broad range of stakeholders beyond airport and regional government decision-makers.

These full day seminars allowed for all stakeholders to actively participate in the research

process and express their views in a facilitated forum.

An inductive thematic analysis of the results identified common themes across the three case

study regions around the interface domains. Two significant themes were identified in the

consideration of Governance and Land Use - legislation has limited consultation between

stakeholders; and there are divergent planning processes and priority between stakeholders.

The analysis of Environment and Land Use revealed – ongoing inter-jurisdictional

fragmentation of environmental decision-making; stakeholders have independent scope of

environmental parameters for consideration; and the current mechanisms for improved land

use planning are inadequate. The key theme for Economic Development and Land use was –

limited reciprocal acknowledgment of direct, indirect and induced economic impacts. The key

themes around Infrastructure and Land Use recognise – disputed impacts on transport

infrastructure from development; and inadequate infrastructure coordination between the

airport and the region.

In consideration of the interdependencies of the interfaces, it is significant to be able to identify

and extract themes which cut across the interface contexts. Three principal concerns are

identified as contributing to the continued fragmentation of airport and regional land use

planning: 1) current legislative and policy frameworks; 2) competing stakeholder priorities and

interest; and 3) inadequate coordination and disjointed decision-making.




• Land Use Forums. • Inductive thematic analysis.

Key Findings

• There is a level of consistency in the problems faced by stakeholders across the case studies.

• The National Aviation Policy Review does little to address the issues raised within this research.

• Three principal concerns are contributing to the continued fragmentation of airport and regional land use planning:

1) current legislative and policy frameworks; 2) competing stakeholder priorities and interest; and 3) inadequate coordination and disjointed decision-making.

Cumulative Impact

• This chapter brings together the understanding of the airport metropolis and demonstrates the value of its application in the generation of new knowledge.

• Through the use of Land Use Forums and thematic analysis this research has revealed significant key themes for further land use planning investigations.

Chapter 7: Stakeholder perspectives on airport and regional land use 1.10.6planning4

Contributing Manuscript:

Stevens, Nicholas J. (2011) Stakeholder perspectives on airport and regional land use planning.

Overview:

The aim of this research is to add finer grained detail to the scaffold of the fragmentary themes

identified in Chapter 6 as a means to better inform the actual circumstance of airport and

regional land use planning. As such the fragmentary themes are recast and recognised here as

resulting from the interdependency of airport and regional stakeholder perspectives on land

use planning 1) relationships, 2) processes and 3) outcomes.

Between May 2009 and August 2010 a total of twenty four (24) face to face semi-structured

interviews were undertaken with airport and state, territory and local government stakeholders

in the three cases study areas – Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra. The airport and regional

stakeholder accounts of their experiences and perceptions of land use planning are the primary

source of data for this research.

4 Please note, Chapter 7 is not a publication, and is not required as such, but will be submitted for consideration upon the completion of the thesis.



It is significant to understand the position and outlook of each stakeholder in this process to

evaluate opportunities for integrated solutions. The research findings identify areas of common

concern as a means to provide a clearer interpretation and possible prioritisation of shared land

use planning issues.

Several implications for land use planning communicative practice may be noted from this

research for consideration across other privatised airports. First – the federal government’s

increasingly prescriptive approach to consultation, as a product of the national aviation White

Paper, allows little room for stakeholder or community negotiation or intervention. Second,

airports have embraced an array of communication mechanisms and forums for dealing

formally and informally with the entire range of stakeholders. Third, is the potential for land use

planning relationships, processes and outcomes to become defined by ad hoc and individual

interest-based bargaining around rates and infrastructure agreements. And last, is the

recognition that effective and appropriate communicative practice (grounded in transparency,

accountability and accessibility) has the potential to deliver integrated and coordinated airport

and regional land use planning.


• Semi-structured interviews • Thematic analysis

Key Findings

• Stakeholder relationships have improved over time. • There is a growing federal government expectation of broader community and

stakeholder consultation for airport and regional land use planning. • The increasingly prescriptive approach to consultation may inhibit cooperative land

use planning. • Early planning interactions were marred in conflict and this has been significant for

ongoing relationships. • Land use planning relationships, processes and outcomes may become defined by ad

hoc and individual interest-based bargaining. • There continues to be ongoing airport and regional conflict regarding land use

planning and transport connectivity.

Cumulative Impact

• This chapter represents the fine grained analysis of airport and regional land use. • This work is the result of an incremental and cumulative process of research

endeavour and identifies a number of key issues which need to be addressed for the establishment of coordinated and integrated airport and regional land use planning practice and policy.

Chapter 2: Literature Review 43


2Chapter 2: Literature Review –

Understanding the Australian Airport

Metropolis

Table 7 Statement of Authorship

Stevens, Nicholas J., Baker, Douglas C., & Freestone, Robert (2007) Understanding the Australian Airport Metropolis. In State of Australian Cities National Conference (SOAC), 28-30 November 2007, Adelaide. 110 – 120.

Contributor Statement of contribution Mr Nicholas Stevens Signature:

Desktop literature review & acquisition of data Data analysis Development of the article structure Drafting of the manuscript Conception and design Critical revision for important intellectual content Production assistance, e.g., assembling tables, graphs, figures, photos or other illustrations Development of conference presentation and delivery Submission management and journal liaison

Prof. Douglas Baker Signature:

Development of the article structure Drafting of the manuscript Critical revision for important intellectual content Supervision Conception and design Copyediting - grammatical assistance, stylistic suggestions to outline or draft

Prof. Robert Freestone Signature:

Development of the article structure Acquisition of data Drafting of the manuscript Conception and design Critical revision for important intellectual content Copyediting - grammatical assistance, stylistic suggestions to outline or draft

Principal Supervisor confirmation: I have sighted email or other correspondence from all Co-authors confirming their certifying authorship.

Prof. Douglas Baker

April 24, 2012

Name Signature Date



Abstract

In Australia, the role, scale and meaning of major urban airports have changed over the

past decade as a result of corporate and economic transformations. Modern airports are

very different from traditional airports as they emerge as important sub-regional activity

centres. As a result of these changes, airport impacts now pose considerable challenges for

both airport operation and the surrounding urban and regional environment. The current

issues surrounding airport development and expansion need to be defined by an

understanding of the complex roles and spatial interactions now associated with airports.

The airport can no longer be managed in isolation from the metropolis that it serves.

However, a conceptual framework for understanding regional conflicts and opportunities

is yet to be developed. This paper identifies and documents a range of issues and impacts to

assist in understanding the changing role of airports in Australia. These various

dimensions are conceptualised as interfaces. Interface areas include land use,

infrastructure, economics, and governance. The paper provides a conceptual framework

for understanding the interfaces that typify major airports, allowing for comparative

analyses across a range of airport contexts and to inform policy prescriptions.

INTRODUCTION 2.1

Transport infrastructure, and its adequate provision has played a part in urban form since

towns were established at crossroads and along ancient trade routes thousands of years ago.

Urban growth has continued to evolve from transport induced innovation, seaports in the 18th

Century, railways in the 19th Century and highways and freeways in the 20th Century. In

addition, transport infrastructure has been the basis for nearly all models of urban progress,

from the rail connections of Ebenezer Howard to the highways and the airports atop

skyscrapers of Le Corbusier. Harris and Ullman (1945) recognised that ‘changes in

transportation are reflected in the pattern of city distribution’ and that ‘airways may reinforce

this trend or stimulate still different patterns of distribution for the future city’ (p 3).

Airports are now established as an important component of the transport infrastructure of

modern cities and have proven increasingly influential to urban structure, form and

development. The reciprocity of impacts between city and airport have evolved in the last 30

years and been amplified under the neo-liberal processes of economic and corporate

transformation. Government and corporate strategies of economic development,



commercialisation and privatisation are giving rise to a new form of airport that is far more

complex and interactive than the landing fields of the past.

Graham (2003) suggests that airports may be classified according to their economic impact

characteristics, outlining six main groups: international gateway airports, national hub airports,

regional airports, tourist generator airports, tourist receiver airports, and transit and interline

airports. In this paper we are primarily concerned with capital city airports, which may function

as international gateway airports and with the ability to generate significant off-airport

business, and national hub airports, which may act as airline bases and encourage capital city

and hinterland tourism.

The paper provides a review and prospectus of airport issues in Australia. Establishing the

complexity of interactions of the modern airport from the outset and more recent

commercialisation trends, it then canvasses some of the past literature on airport development

to convey a growing awareness of the complexity of the airport phenomenon from the early

20th century. Contemporary ‘integrated’ conceptual models focusing on the airport as activity

centre begin to address the reciprocity of the airport phenomenon. This discussion introduces a

more holistic schema based on the concept of interfaces. Underlain by notions of sustainability,

this model seeks to capture the many urban planning issues which are generated by the modern

airport within a simple framework to aid description, understanding and policy responses. It is

organised around four fundamental ‘interfaces’ of land use, infrastructure, economics, and

governance.

IMPACT OF AIRPORTS 2.2

The scale of passenger and freight activity at Australian airports has increased significantly in

recent decades and this trend is likely to continue in line with global trends. The expected

growth of passenger traffic internationally is forecast to reach 5 billion by 2010, and surpass 9

billion passengers annually by 2025. The highest global passenger growth of 7.9% (2005-10) is

forecast for the Asia Pacific region. The global air freight task is expected to outperform the

passenger market with a tripling to 214 million tonnes by 2025. The Asia Pacific region is again

forecast to grow the fastest averaging 6.5% per annum (ACI 2007).

The changing role and importance of Australian airports, in aggregate economic terms for trade

and tourism, is well documented. In Australia (1995-2005), domestic, regional and international

air traffic increased by annual averages of 4.6%, 4.1% and 5.9% respectively (DOTARS 2006). In



addition, while only 0.1% of international freight, by weight, was transported by air in Australia

in 2003/04, it had a value of $AUD65.5b, representing 26.4% of total freight value (DOTARS

2005). Contemporary models of freight traffic growth predict that the value of manufactured

goods traded inter-regionally will increase significantly (ATAG 2005). International tourists,

whose expenditures are major contributors to regional economics, typically arrive by air and

the presence of an airport is recognised as fundamental for the realisation of regional tourism

and economic potential (Bieger & Wittmer 2006). Over the next decade, the number of

international visitors to Australia is estimated to grow at 5.6% per annum, to reach around 10

million (TRA 2005).

This sort of growth and its implications for support services and city regions ultimately lies

behind the rising importance of airports as an urban phenomenon. Increasingly, airports

represent a phalanx of considerations, both intentional and causational, when their impacts on

economies, populations, trade, tourism, employment, industry are considered. They are ‘the

most intensely geographical manifestations of all the forces of mobility’ (Serebrisky 2003 p 105)

and are a dynamic and integral part of the urban fabric. Their management and future

development are integrally interlinked with urban and regional land use, infrastructure

planning and economic development. The coordination and governance of airports in Australia

must be integrated in this larger geographic framework.

AIRPORT OWNERSHIP 2.3

Within an increasingly globalised world economy, the ownership and management of airports

has been a key consideration in their transformation to major urban activity nodes. Historically,

the majority of airports worldwide have been public sector owned and operated. In the United

States and Europe, after the Second World War, most major airports were handed over to local

and regional municipalities (Graham 2003). In the 1950s and 1960s many countries, including

the United Kingdom, transferred ownership to civil aviation authorities. During this time,

regardless of ownership structure, airports were managed as publicly owned and controlled

utilities with public service obligations and limited priority on commercial or financial

management (Humphreys 1999).

The mid-1980s saw fundamental policy changes towards ownership in several countries.

Governments faced enormous pressure from tax payers to control deficits. State funding for

airports was out of favour and airports were considered a ‘mature’ industry with little

development potential (Tretheway 2001). The perceived drain on public resources motivated



some national governments to undertake a variety of strategies to minimise loss and seek a

return on decades of unfulfilled investment. The United Kingdom was the first country to

introduce a new national policy of privatised airport ownership in 1987. The deregulation of the

airline industry proceeded in parallel, and the management of major airports also underwent a

revolution. Introduction of commercial objectives by airport operators was considered an

efficient way to maximise revenue, improve customer service and quality standards, while

reducing risk and dependence on aeronautical revenue alone (Freathy & O’Connell 1999).

Initially much of the commercialism was focussed on the airport terminal, providing an array of

shopping facilities. Later came an emphasis on full exploitation of the airport site and further

diversification of business became apparent.

The post-war devolution of airport ownership was also characteristic of the Australian scene.

The Federal Airports Corporation (FAC) when formed in 1988 had responsibility for only 17

airports. The FAC operated on commercial lines utilising the governance, management and

incentive strategies of the private sector. The deregulation of the Australian domestic airline

industry in 1990 when the Airline Agreement Termination Act came into effect had a catalytic

effect in making domestic air travel accessible to the broader public (Quiggin 1997).

Consequently, significant increases in airport revenue were generated in the prelude to full

privatisation (Hooper et al. 2000; Graham 2003). From 1996 FAC airports were put to tender in

a two phase process under the provisions of the new Airports Act 1996. The Federal

Government netted billions of dollars in the sale of airport leaseholds. Despite the Asian

economic crisis at the time, the price earnings ratios for Australian airports were high because

of limited opportunities to purchase international airports in the Asia Pacific region, the high

degree of corporate autonomy bestowed, and the significant geographic monopoly power

involved (Hooper et al. 2000). Airport operators purchased a wide range of development rights

with no restriction on land uses other than compliance with the Airports Act 1996. The

government sales team marketed the investment potential and opportunity for revenue from

property development, car parking and commercial initiatives (Freestone et al. 2006).

AIRPORT CONFLICTS 2.4

State, territory and local governments are ultimately responsible for making and implementing

land use planning strategies, frameworks and decisions in their jurisdictions. However,

incompatible land use and development decisions in areas surrounding airports have led to

increased pressure to place constraints on Australian airports. Recent planning strategies have

seen airport regions continuing to become increasingly populated through urban consolidation



strategies. Suburban low density areas, beyond the airport buffer, are now being granted local

government approval for medium density development, further adding to the conflict (Uyeno et

al. 1993). The source of many complaints may be attributed to poor or inadequate urban and

regional planning by past (and present) government stakeholders and airport operators.

Historically, many of these conflicts have emerged as residential development has encroached

on airports that were ‘out of town’ and air traffic movement has accelerated toward larger and

faster aircraft; this has resulted in increased noise, increased frequency of air traffic, and

increased airport and surrounding infrastructure use.

Most of the issues surrounding Australian airport development and expansion may be

attributed to the insular legislative and policy arrangements under which airports have long

been managed. Airport operators and the local and state governments feel that the legislation

could go further in representing their respective interests. Stakeholders want the legislation to

determine the appropriate roles of government, all tiers, compared to market forces and the

appropriate roles for airports compared to social responsibilities. In balance, the yet to be

determined solutions to airport and regional conflict, and the assurance that the emerging

airports are managed to mutual benefit, are also based in the governance arrangements of

legislation, policy and institution.

Airport privatisation was primarily an opportunity to unburden the nation from public sector

funding of airport development, yet it has resulted in airport operators wanting highest returns

on their investment, and they have been quick to outline expectations for the capitalisation of

their land assets in the legislatively required master planning process. Airport corporations

recognise that they cannot survive by landing planes, and need to diversify their commercial

interests as means of ensuring profitability. These recent commercial developments at airports

are another source of conflict within airport regions along with more longstanding concerns

about noise, traffic and loss of environmental amenity, often sparked by rounds of airport

expansion.

It has been argued in the Federal Court of Australia that non-aviation commercial development

at airports, in particular the intention to develop retail shopping ‘was or will be in contravention

of various provisions of the Airports Act 1996’ (FCA 2005 p 2). All airport companies in Australia

closely followed this court case, as it was considered a test of non-aviation airport development

and the strength of the Act to enable such development. The feeling was that should the

application succeed in limiting development, the value of Australian airports could be slashed



(Greenblat 2003). This protracted legal battle came to end when Federal Court Justice Cooper

dismissed the application, finding in favour of airports in February 2005. This verdict

reaffirmed the independence of airport operators to determine airport non-aviation land uses

outside of surrounding municipal land use regulation.

STUDYING AIRPORTS 2.5

The study of airports as urban and planning phenomena has progressed along with the

technological changes which have shaped the airline and airport industries over a century. The

below literature review is but a sub-set of a broader suite of technical investigations into airport

issues, but a distinct progression is evident from the accommodation of a new transport

technology, to the economic, management and legal issues arising, and onto broader

infrastructure and environmental impacts. Security and sustainability have been more recent

preoccupations. The evolving complexity of issues is most immediately captured in airport

design and management manuals (Coles 1929; Richard 1936; Froesch & Prokosch 1946; CAA

1952; Legault 1960; de Neufville & Odoni 2003). Many urban planning, geography and indeed

global city texts have surprisingly little to say about airport development and generally shoe-

horn it into a narrow transportation planning paradigm. However, the need to appreciate a

more complex set of environmental considerations in the broadest sense is evident from the

locational conflict and site selection literature of the 1970s (Haggett 1979 p 536-539).

The earliest Australian airport literature documented the military importance of aviation

(Harrison 1914). At the time an understanding of airport engineering requirements was

rudimentary but progressed rapidly as general standards of airport design and runway

construction were refined and developed in parallel with evolving aircraft technology (Arthur

1927; Coles 1929; Cochrane 1947; Loxton 1950). Over time a greater appreciation of

management issues in relation to airports as public transport infrastructure developed (Richard

1936; Pitcher 1943; Mayer 1945; Pope 1947). Early town planning interest was muted. John

Sulman (1921) briefly dealt with the space demands of modern aerodromes as a form of

specialised urban space alongside racecourses, drill grounds, and zoos. Brown & Sherrard

(1951) provided a more expansive treatment, emphasising the importance of physical planning,

design standards, site selection, and the ‘general effect of an airport on the planning of a town’

(p 118). The significance and influence of airport site selection and its implications in

determining adjacent land uses, primarily in relation to the impact of noise and in the interests

of safety, were key aspects of early airport literature. The value of adequate transport

connections between the airport and town to ensure maximum benefit from the provision of air



services was also recognised. In parallel the problems and costs associated with congestion of

airport access due to adjacent built up areas was also appreciated (Brown & Sherrard 1951).

The vast distances and continental periphery settlement patterns of Australia quickly

highlighted the economic and social significance of airports, tempered by international

awareness of growing environmental externalities (Lambert 1953; Rosendahl 1955; Friend

1958; Harvey 1958).

The 1960s and early 1970s saw spectacular growth in aviation and airports both through

technological advancement and the growing accessibility of air travel to the greater public. The

benefit and impact of necessary airport expansion plans and duplications of runways was

evaluated, modelled and debated (Moffat 1968; Davidson et al. 1969; Weston 1972; ABTE

1975). By the 1980s, airports were stigmatised as an urban inconvenience and their public costs

versus urban impacts were questioned by government and the public alike (Carlton 1978;

Holsman & Alexsandric 1977; Seymour 1979; Lucas 1982; Deaves 1986; Thorn 1988). The

expansion of the existing airport and aborted development of a second facility in Sydney

attracted significant academic interest (Sanders 1991; Adam 1993; Fitzgerald 1998), and by the

1990s the environmental and social disbenefits of airports were a major concern (Vandebona

1997; Lammerts 1996; Fitzgerald 1999). A broader management oriented literature addressed

new issues of deregulation and entrepreneurial approaches to airport management and policy

(Kunkel 1990; Mills 1995; Truitt & Esler 1996; Forsyth 1997; Quiggin 1997; Kissling 1998;

Quinlan 1998; Graham 1999). The nature of privatisation and the capitalisation of development

potential of airport lands are contemporary concerns (Hooper et al. 2000; Carney & Mew 2003;

Freestone et al. 2006; Spiller 2006).

INTEGRATED MODELS OF AIRPORTS AS ACTIVITY CENTRES 2.6

The list of airport impacts beyond the airport boundaries has grown through time, but

treatments have remained highly specialised and contained within disciplinary paradigms.

Empirical analysis has been generally limited to the isolated evaluation of the components of a

complex system. What conceptual advances are evident regarding the changing role and

multifaceted impacts of airports in their urban settings?

Airports are increasingly recognised as general urban activity centres; that is, key assets for

cities and regions as economic generators and catalysts of investment, in addition to being

critical components of efficient city infrastructure. The entrepreneurial idea of the modern

airport goes beyond the movement of aircraft towards providing a variety of commercial and



industrial opportunities. This may focus on the encouragement of aviation reliant and related

industry but may also provide for the industries of the new economy, or alternatively

businesses and services that have limited direct reliance on air transport or aviation at all.

Three models of airports as activity centres have been conceptualised. The ‘aviapolis’ is the

marketing and development of aviation orientated and airport-centred business hubs (Finavia

2004). The ‘airfront’ is the collection of aviation related industries and services attracted to, and

located within, an airport hinterland (Blanton 2004). The identification of the airport as a focus

for logistics, and as a function of transport-based urban development, has been recognised as an

‘aerotropolis’ (Kasarda 1991a).

The ‘aviapolis’ is the development of strategic opportunity to revitalise a city region and

adjacent airport. It is intended to function as a mixed use commercial, industrial and residential

centre capitalising on the advantages that an international airport may bring. Through

cooperative agreement the Finnish government and industry stakeholders were able to

establish cooperative administrative arrangements: a district wide comprehensive plan; an

economic development and marketing strategy; and a governance framework built around this

shared goal (Finavia 2004). The development of the ‘aviapolis’ is the strategic re-organisation of

an existing urban area into an aviation orientated business hub, utilising the anchors which

exist within the region and maximising their potential. A perceived limitation may be the

continued requirements of investment and international marketing, yet the ‘aviapolis’ still

provides a model of the integrated planning and development of an airport and its hinterland,

functioning as an international activity centre.

Blanton (2004) conceptualises the ‘myriad of commercial, industrial, and transportation

facilities and services intrinsically tied to the airport’ as the ‘airfront’. Highlighting regional

economic integration, the aim is to understand ‘how planners can shape emerging airfront

districts to achieve regional and local objectives’ through a scenario planning approach (p 36).

The airfront is not part of the airport, but of the region and recognised as a location of potential

and unrealised opportunity. It supports the airport with an array of services based on industrial

clustering. The better coordinated planning and development of this airfront provides for

economic strengthening and revitalisation of the region for mutual benefit. However, little

attention has been given to commercial districts surrounding airports, and few planning

authorities understand how to plan development to best leverage this economic resource, let



alone how it may best fit into broader transportation and regional land use planning (Blanton

2004).

Kasarda champions the development of the ‘aerotropolis’, a logistics based model of airport city

development (Kasarda & Green 2005; Kasarda 2001; Kasarda 2000; Kasarda 1996; Kasarda

1991a). The aerotropolis is an urban form, centred on multimodal logistics, with an aviation

focus, where low weight / high value goods can be moved quickly and efficiently. Companies are

able to maintain zero inventories: take customer orders, fly in raw materials, assemble them

and fly them out again, at the one airport location (Kasarda 1991b). This ‘industrial/aviation

complex’ is intended as an actual metropolis, where the airport and surrounding hotels, retail,

distribution centres, light industrial parks, and even some residential zones all serve as a central

business district. It is imagined as a ‘centre’ with excellent highway transport links, ‘aerolanes’,

to the regional hinterland to ensure the unimpeded flow of goods, services and people (Kasarda

2001). The ‘aerotropolis’ as a freight and logistics model is based in the notion of ‘survival of the

fastest (Kasarda 2000). It may well be considered this paradigm presents limitations for

tangible implementation where the notions of sustainability and equity in local access are

significant. All three descriptive models portray the modern airport as a dynamic new economic

engine calling forth the need for new and appropriate planning responses to better seize this

potential. However, they are mostly economistic conceptualisations and lack explicit

acknowledgement of the wider urban system, neglecting the reciprocity of impacts which may

often be considered as a consequence of each other: airport access, regional transport

congestion, noise, land use compatibility, economic impacts, airport competitiveness,

privatisation, infrastructure capacity, and so on. There is also insufficient weight given to

environmental, social and governance issues alongside economic benefits.

THE NEED FOR A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 2.7

It is timely and appropriate that conceptual frameworks for understanding airport and regional

conflicts and opportunities are established. The complex issues attached to airports need to be

placed within a context which will assist in better understanding the airport’s changing role.

Integrative models are required which recognise and attempt to understand the nature and

importance of international, national, regional and local drivers of airport growth and the need

for sustainable balanced development. It is desirable to have a better means of describing,

explaining and ultimately improving corporate, public, and institutional governance processes.



An understanding of the influence of airports as urban phenomena and their catchments of

influence will assist all stakeholders in the management of future growth and associated change.

The appropriate management, understanding and consequent development of airports has

direct relevance to the urban character and design of our cities, their liveability, safety and

connectivity regionally, nationally and internationally.

A different set of airport operating environments are created when airports draw on regional

catchments of the non-travelling public to generate an increasing proportion of their revenues.

We need a greater understanding of what the issues and implications are for airports and their

host regions, and how these issues must be considered as united, interdependent and integrated

(Stevens 2006).5

ADDITIONAL CONTEXTUAL LITERATURE6 2.8

This section of the literature review provides additional research regarding the National

Aviation Policy Review; airport management and ownership; land use compatibility; and on-

airport commercialisation. It is considered that these areas are not sufficiently detailed in the

previous publication, or within the following chapters. This literature is necessary to provide

the reader with an adequate context of airport and regional management and development

nationally and internationally.

The National Aviation Policy Review 2.8.1

In April 2008, the Australian Government initiated a National Aviation Policy Review. The title

would suggest there was a policy under review; the reality was this process established the first

ever comprehensive aviation policy statement for Australia. At this time, an ‘Issues Paper’ was

released for public comment, followed by a ‘Green Paper’ outlining preliminary proposals

(December 2008) and a National Aviation Policy White Paper: Flight Path to the Future (White

Paper) with proposed policy reforms (December 2009). The review covered many issues

5 Due to the integrative nature of this research the concluding section of this publication has been omitted for logic and efficiency. The section outlines an emergent version of the Airport Metropolis Interface Model which is comprehensively developed in the Chapter 4. The publication is available in full in Appendix 1.

6 This section of the thesis is additional literature beyond the 2007 State of Australian Cities (SOAC) conference publication.



pertaining to aviation in Australia: safety, security, international aviation, domestic and regional

aviation, general aviation, industry skills and productivity, airport infrastructure and noise

impacts (Australian Government 2008). Airport and regional (land use) planning challenges

were highlighted under ‘airport infrastructure’.

2.8.1.1 Land Use and the National Aviation Policy

Following the Green Paper the Australian Government released a discussion paper ‘Safeguards

for airports and the communities around them’ in July 2009. This discussion paper was to initiate

‘A clear and coordinated national framework for land use planning and development controls’

(DITRDLG 2009a p 166). The intention was for the Australian Government to work in

partnership with state, territory and local planning systems on a national technical rule book for

off-airport development to assist in the protection of airspace and to protect the community

from operational and catastrophic aviation impacts. Currently (December 2011) in lieu of this

framework being advanced the Australian Department of Infrastructure and Transport (the

Department) is making formal submissions, on behalf of airports, to regional projects deemed to

have the potential to impact the aviation function of the airport.

As a consequence of the White Paper, the Australian Government has initiated two additional

reporting requirements and planning guidelines for airports. As of December 2010 all new

airport master plans must also detail ‘surface vehicle access plans with measures to mitigate

vehicle and traffic impacts’ (DITRDLG 2011, p 1). Additionally, in January 2011, the Department

released a discussion draft ‘Significant Impact on the Local or Regional Community Guide’

(DITRDLG 2011). This guide is intended to provide information to both the public and industry

stakeholders about whether a proposed on-airport development ‘triggers the significant impact

on the local or regional community clause, which is s89 (1) (Na) of the Airports Act 1996’

(DITRDLG 2011, p 2).

While the Department and the White Paper provide ad hoc submissions and guidelines which

seek to achieve better planning and integrated development, there remains limited direction on

land use coordination between stakeholders (Freestone & Baker 2010). A further analysis of the

National Aviation Policy Review is detailed in Chapter 5 - Managing airport land development

under regulatory uncertainty.



Environmental Impact and the Australian Airport Metropolis 2.8.2

The carbon footprint of aviation has been growing at about 3% each year and is anticipated to

continue to grow (Australian Government 2009). Domestic aviation is included in the Carbon

Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) and it is also anticipated that, where possible, airlines will

seek to pass the higher cost through (Dwyer et al. 2012)7. As such, it is reasonable to assume

that an airlines capacity to sustain profitability is expected to be partially reliant on the

aeronautical charges policies of airports. In response the airports may continue to pursue

increasing profitability of non-aeronautical revenue streams, in part, through continued on-

airport real estate development. However, the direct exposure of airport corporations to the

CPRS is minimal and the current environmental reporting regime for airports will remain

largely unchanged - Aviation White Paper (2009), Chapter 13, p 203:

Airport operations and infrastructure improvement

Activities directly under the control of airport operators are not a major source of aviation emissions, but even these emissions can be reduced by more energy-efficient designs for airport buildings and by airports switching to alternative lower carbon fuels where possible. Airport operators do have a key role to play in working with aircraft operators and air navigation service providers to improve the efficiency of gate to gate operations. Airports will be strongly encouraged to take a cooperative role in helping to achieve these efficiencies.

This process has already begun with some airports moving to establish programs such as green star rated commercial developments on airport, use of alternate energy sources (such as tri-gen and solar plants), carbon accounting, energy and water audits, recycling, sustainable water management and the creation of bio diversity zones. The Government will encourage airports to include Carbon Reduction Strategies in future Airport Environment Strategies. Further, Airport Environment Strategies will be required to form part of the airport’s Master Plan, ensuring environmental planning is incorporated into the primary planning tool for the airport (p 203).

Australian privatised airports environmental performance is evaluated under the

Commonwealth Airports Act 1996 and the Airports (Environment Protection) Regulations 1997.

Under Section 116 of the Airports Act 1996 each airport is required to deliver an Airport

Environment Strategy (AES) every 5 years. The AES describes the programs, objectives, targets

and actions the airport is undertaking for improving environmental performance across issues

7 See Chapter 13 Aviation’s role in reducing global carbon emissions in the Aviation Policy White Paper

2009 for an overview of The Governments policy goal to: Ensure the Australian aviation industry plays an

effective role in the reduction of aviation’s contribution to climate change



such as a waste generation, water consumption, water quality, air quality, energy usage, climate

change, biodiversity and conservation management and community engagement (Australian

Government 2012a). An important distinction is that the AES does not deal with the

environmental impacts associated with the operation of the airport as an aviation hub, such as

aircraft noise and emissions. Through the AES processes the larger Australian airports have

been responding to the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Scheme and from

the emissions data no Australian airport appears on the Clean Energy Regulators - Liable

Entities Public Information Database (LEPID), which indicates the liability of a company under

the carbon pricing mechanism (Australian Government 2012c).

The changing role of Australian airports and the mutually reliant relationships they increasingly

share with the surrounding region will require careful and cooperative management when

considering the array of associated environmental externalities. Individually and collaboratively

airports and municipal governments will have to consider the trade-offs between increased

expansion, to provide a non-aeronautical revenue stream and regionally, to accommodate urban

infill development.

The success of non-aeronautical expansion on the airport, as a retail and commercial

destination and key employment centre, is reliant upon the support and patronage of the region.

It is therefore important that the true environmental costs of on-airport development be

revealed, along with the strategies the airport operators expect to use to mitigate those impacts.

The environmental and social costs, in terms of noise (construction), emissions (vehicular),

resource use and infrastructure congestion, may be measured through the use of monitoring

data at the airport. Where economic, social and environmental factors are included in all

consultations and evaluations of airport and regional land use planning, the greater airport

metropolis can strive for continuous improvement in environmental performance.

Short 2004, in Freestone 2009, acknowledges that ‘airports are not just nodes in the global

network of flows; they are sites of major environmental impact that highlight the tension

between international connectivity and local livability’ (p 169). The issue of environmental

impact of airports is significant in consideration of expansion intentions, both from an

aeronautical perspective, but here specifically from an on-airport commercial urban

destination. In both regards the impacts of airport development go well beyond the physical

boundaries of the airport (Freestone 2009). It is imperative that the airport planning and the

regional urban planning are better coordinated and mutually supportive. Freestone (2009)



details nine fundamental principles that may assist in ensuring airports, and the surrounding

region, begin to plan for and support sustainable airport and regional development:

1. realistic economic forecasts as the basis for development and expansion;

2. caution about impacts of new development upon the existing environment;

3. incorporation of aviation into urban and community visions;

4. a shared sense of responsibility and purpose among key stakeholders;

5. a district wide comprehensive plan that provides for organized land use, environmental protection, and multi-modal mobility;

6. an economic development and marketing strategy that defines an airport region and provides tools to attract and retain investment;

7. a governance framework that facilitates coordination of all relevant public agencies;

8. an open dialogue and partnership between airport and wider community; and

9. consistency of relevant plan objectives and territorialities at the airport, local area, region, metropolis, state, and national scales (p 173).

In Managing the Carbon Footprint of Australian Aviation (2012b) the Australian Government

outlines the means by which airports may contribute to managing the overall carbon footprint

of aviation. Within Section 9, Airport Contribution, a number of strategies are outlined as ways in

which airports may assist, through direct control, the carbon footprint and CO2 emissions of the

aviation industry:

• building greener commercial buildings on-site, providing ground power and pre-conditioned air facilities for aircraft, and decreasing the fuel consumption of ground-based vehicles;

• generating electricity through solar installations;

• developing ground transport plans for better linkages with off-airport transport systems;

• and preparing carbon footprint reports on airport emissions.



Airport Ownership 2.8.3

Historically, the majority of airports, worldwide, were public sector owned and operated

infrastructure. The technological advances and the expansion of the aviation industry during

WWI and WWII were paralleled by a proliferation of airports. In the US and Europe, after the

war, most of the major airports were handed over to local and regional municipalities for

ownership, yet still with the proviso of national precedent when required. Some of the airports

were owned and managed by consortiums of local municipalities, and some still had both local

and national government ownership (Graham 2003). In the 1950s and 1960s many countries,

including the United Kingdom, transferred ownership to Civil Aviation Authorities. During this

time, regardless of ownership structure, airports were managed as publicly owned and

controlled utilities with public service obligations and limited priority on commercial or

financial management (Humphreys 1999).

In the 1970s and 1980s the deregulation of airlines saw dramatic increases in passenger

numbers, providing new commercial opportunities for airport operators. Many more federal

governments began to establish airport corporations as semi-autonomous bodies, as a means to

better manage the necessary airport development.

Today, the nature of airport ownership varies greatly from country to country. The majority of

airports globally are still public assets, with varying levels of private sector involvement. A

number of models of airport administration and operation are documented by Graham 2008;

Treathaway 2001; Wells & Young 2004, and summarised in Table 8.

Table 8 Models of airport administration and operation

1. Operation by National Government Department

This was traditionally the most common model, where federal governments owned and operated airports. The airports are the responsibility of a department, typically the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Ministry of Transport or the military. They may oversee regulation, air traffic control, air navigation and airport operations. Investment in this model is dependent on political process or budget priorities, potentially leading to under investment in airport infrastructure.

2. Operation by Municipal Governments

This is unique to the US and is typically where airports are run by the city as an administrative department, with some setting up boards as an advisory role, but holding very little real power. This model should have high degrees of accountability and transparency, yet in reality very few US airports provide financial statements to the public.

3. Operation by Government Agency

In this model aviation matters are referred to a semi-independent government agency, rather than the



direct responsibility of a department, (CAA), Ministry of Transport or the military. The department is responsible for policy, while the agency is responsible for the day to day regulations and operations.

4. Operation by a Government Corporation

This is the vertical separation of operations from regulatory functions, eliminating conflict of interest. The corporation reports to the department, but is semi-autonomous due to its corportised structure. Airport management by corporation is not uncommon, and was the system in Australia prior to privatisation, under the Federal Airports Corporation (FAC). Airport corporations may be wholly owned by the national government, others are jointly owned by federal and local governments, such as, The Schiphol Group, in The Netherlands.

5. Airport Authority

The term can be ambiguous, but here refers to the governance concept of a private sector corporation, which operates an airport that is not for profit, and as such has no shareholders. They have an independent board selection process which remains in place when there is a change of government, as opposed to the government corporation model, and they have financing that is independent of the government. This model is unique to Canada and was established in the hope airport development would be managed to best serve the region.

6. Private Corporation

This is when an airport is wholly owned, or leased, by a for-profit corporation, with ownership dispersed among a number of shareholders. Private corporations may own airports and facilities outright, or lease the airport on a long-term basis. Leasing usually means that the government still has residual responsibilities, should the corporation fail, and also has implications for land development as the corporation endeavours to capitalise on its investment, and maximise return in the timeframes of a lease.

Commercialisation and Commercial Development 2.8.4

In the 1970s and 1980s airports and their management were viewed differently, and the

commercial transformation of the airport industry began. The introduction of commercial

objectives by airport operators, largely in response to airline deregulation, was considered an

efficient way to maximise revenue, improve customer service and quality standards, while

reducing risk and dependence on aeronautical revenue alone. Freathy & O’Connell (1999)

acknowledge the traditional operational aspects of the airport were now being viewed in

consideration of the commercial aspects:

• financial management;

• non aeronautical revenue generation; and

• airport marketing.



The commercial strategies of airports also began to be reflected in the composition of the

airport executive. The traditional operational expertise of directors and senior managers was

being replaced by a commercial skill set (Graham 2003).

Initially much of the commercialism was focussed on the airport terminal, providing an array of

shopping facilities, and it ‘transformed these loss making entities into profitable customer

orientated businesses’ (ibid. p 141). The most visible outcome of the commercialisation

strategies of airports was the greater amounts of space allocated to retail and concessionaire

facilities within terminal facilities. Later, as the potential of commercialisation was recognised

there was an emphasis on full exploitation of the airport site and further diversification of

business. It is this extension of commercial development, and site utilisation, which now may be

recognised at most airports, yet seemingly accelerated under the corporate strategies of

privatised airports in the past decade (Freathy & O’Connell 1999; Graham 2008). The

privatisation and commercialisation strategies of the 1980s and 1990s gave the airports

freedom to develop commercial potential and diversity of revenue, providing for a more

business orientated approach, towards land development and property management.

In the United State, European Union and United Kingdom commercial strategies and a more

competitive, deregulated, airline industry encouraged airports to start pricing tactics,

promotional campaigns, and undertake market research to attract and retain a larger market

share of commercial return. There was much data gathering to determine who the users are,

what they spend, when and how to better capitalise on the provision of commercial

opportunities. It was not long before revenue from commercial sources overtook that from

aeronautical sources, the first recorded change occurring at Schiphol airport, in The

Netherlands in 1984 (Wells & Young 2004).

2.8.4.1 Three sites of commercial development & four consumers

Historically, passengers were the target market for commercialisation strategies, today there is

a greater awareness of the ’other’ users of the airport. Here three key sites of commercial

development and four key consumers are recognised (Stevens 2006) (Figure 7).

1. The travelling public, passengers;

2. The ‘meeters and greeters’, who drop off and collect the passengers;

3. The employees of the airport; and



4. The regional residents of the airport hinterland.

It is possible to recognise three key areas in which commercial development primarily takes

place:

1. The airport terminal airside, in departures;

2. The airport terminal landside, including external environs, such as car-parking; and

3. Landside, non-terminal away from the airport complex, yet within the grounds of the airport.

Figure 7 Commercial development and consumers on-airport (Stevens 2006)

Airport terminals have been commercialised almost universally. Traditionally, commercial

services were provided to improve the comfort of the traveller including basic food and

beverage services, common waiting areas, information kiosks and some retail and duty and tax

free shops. Since the 1980s these facilities have become more specialised, and airport operators

have embraced the commercialisation of many parts of the airport. The range of goods and

services is now that of major shopping centres offering international brands and an array of

local and traditionally national products. The international branding of products is important

for the travelling consumer to be able to make price comparisons, and recognise that airport

shopping is no more expensive, than elsewhere in the region or in their country of origin

(Freathy & O’Connell 1998). Also typically on the airside, are a range of comfort services, such

AIRPORT TERMINAL LANDSIDE: Travellers, Meeters

and Greeters, Employees

LANDSIDE NON TERMINAL: Travellers,

Meeters and Greeters, Employees,

AIRPORT TERMINAL AIRSIDE: Travellers



as bars, lounge areas, email facilities, massages, and hotel facilities such as at Schiphol Airport,

The Netherlands; and Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Commercial opportunities on the landside of the terminal such as postal services, travel agents,

booking tour facilities and money exchange are often acknowledged as value adding facilities

which enhance the experience and overall impression of an airport and its region (Graham

2008). They may be considered as providing some service to the users of airports, in all their

forms, rather than just opportunities to relieve the public of money. Landside car parking is also

a major source of revenue for airports and its provision and even expansion is often pursued as

commercial intent. Advertising represents a substantial and flexible non aeronautical revenue

sources for airport operators, although its unplanned application or widespread use has the

potential to aesthetically devalue the airport (Weake 1999).

Fernie (1995) examines emerging ‘out of town’ retail development such as factory outlet

centres and airport retailing. He believes they will have only limited success, partially due to the

political hostility to development that could potentially impact on the viability of urban centre

retailing. He focuses much of his discussion of airport retailing on the airside traveller market,

and recognises the potential for landside terminal expansion and poignantly quoted Chesterton

(1993) in posing the question ‘at what stage do landside shops at an airport start attracting local

people and divert retail expenditure’ (p 12). He argued that the strategy of the factory outlet

locating out of town was because the retailer intends to provide the same urban centre fashion

in a factory direct format offering ‘bargains’, which if located near the urban centre would be in

direct competition with their own high end stores. He suggested that they would have limited

potential constrained ‘by new conditions imposed on their design to prevent them from

becoming full scale shopping malls’ (p 10) in direct competition to suburban centres.

In Australia, airport operators have embraced and combined both of these forms of out of town

development as a strategic intent, providing for retail and commercial centres that are

endeavouring to become the focus of local and regional spending. Furthermore, branding is

occurring in a unique way, in that store types are being associated with airport locations. For

example Direct Factory Outlets™ (DFO) are now a brand presence at many capital city airports

on the Australian East coast including Brisbane, Canberra, Essendon, and Hobart (Freestone et

al. 2006).



Airport Privatisation 2.8.5

Today the ownership and management of airport lands and facilities is increasingly the

responsibility of private companies, often on a leasehold or concessional basis. The structures of

private ownership and administration vary globally, yet the common objective is the pursuit of

economic return, for stakeholder benefit (Graham 2003; Humphrey 1999).

Humphrey (1999) defines privatisation as ‘the transfer by governments, to private investors, of

the assets of publicly owned enterprises so that the new entity gains a legal status that enables

it to act as a private company’ (p 121). He also outlines the aims of privatisation

• To improve efficiency;

• Reduce government involvement in industry;

• Reduce subsidies to the public sector;

• Reduce the financial burden on government;

• Provide access to private investment;

• Widen share ownership;

• Gain political advantage; and

• Introduce commercially focussed management (p 122).

The mid 1980’s saw a change to the operation of, and policy towards airports. Tretheway

(2001) believes that at this time governments faced enormous pressure from tax payers to

control deficits, and prioritise spending. Government funding for airports was out of favour and

they were considered a mature industry with little development potential. The perceived drain

on public resources motivated many national governments to undertake a variety of strategies

to minimise loss and in fact seek a return on decades of unfulfilled investment. The United

Kingdom (UK) was the first country to adopt new policy towards airport ownership, publicly

listing its federal airport system in 1987.

2.8.5.1 United Kingdom Privatisation

The first steps towards the privatisation of airports were significant and undertaken as part of

economic rationalisation strategies of the Thatcher government in the United Kingdom in the

mid 1980s. The 1985 Airports White Paper outlined the policy objectives of the government

(Graham 2003):



• To encourage enterprise and efficiency in the operation of major airports by

providing for the introduction of private capital; and

• Air transport facilities should not in general be subsidised by the taxpayer or the

ratepayer. Airports, whoever their owners, should normally operate as commercial

undertakings.

These policies were enacted through the 1986 Airports Act. This Act is considered the beginning

of airport privatisation, and was significant in its scale and completeness of the process

(Graham 2003). The Act transferred the government owned corportised British Airports

Authority (BAA) into a private company, publicly floated on the stock exchange. The seven

airports comprising BAA: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stanstead, Prestwick, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and

Glasgow, were set up as company subsidiaries of BAA. The second part of the Act required that

airports with a turnover of more than £1 million in two of the previous three years become

companies, although the shares of these airport companies were to be held by the local

authority. This ownership structure gave the local authorities the right to sell all or part of their

shares to private companies. The Act also gave airport management the power to set airport

charges, but these were to be regulated and administered by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA),

ensuring the commercialisation and possible privatisation of these airports was acceptable to

the airlines (Humphreys 1999; Graham 2003). The Act has led to three types of airport

ownership structures in the UK:

1. Fully owned by a private company;

2. Commercialised company, part owned by private interest, and part owned by the local authorities; and

3. Commercialised company owned by local authorities alone.

2.8.5.2 Models of Privatisation

There are a variety of privatisation models, and the application of a particular one will depend

on the strategic objectives of the government seeking privatisation. Graham (2003) identifies 5

models of privatisation:

1. Share Flotation: An airport company’s share capital is issued and traded on the stock

market. This may range from a float of 100%, such as the BAA float in 1987, to a partial float.

Share floatation transfers effective control to the new shareholders and with it economic

risk. Airports will need a track record of profit making to attract suitable investment, and to



qualify for stock market floatation. The new airport operators will also have to endure daily

scrutiny of their financial performance, reflected in its share price.

2. Trade Sale: This involves the sale of some, or the entire of the airport, to a trade partner or

consortium of partners. Trade sales have to date, involved strategic partnerships, ensuring

technical expertise as well as finance. Graham (2003) categorises airports transferred on

long term leases as also falling into this category as ‘effectively all control will be transferred

from the publicly owned airport to the trade partner’ (p 21). This is the case in the

privatisation of Australian airports.

3. Concession: An airport company or consortium will purchase a concession or lease to

operate the airport for a defined period of time (Graham 2003). The contract is generally

only 20 - 30 years and will involve an initial payment, followed by annual payments or a

guaranteed level of investment, over the life of the contract. This arrangement hands over

full control, both economic and management to the airport company for a fixed period,

allowing the government greater control than an outright sale of a long-term lease.

4. Project Finance: A company will build or redevelop, usually a specific airport facility,

operate it for a period of time, and then return it to the government owner (Tretheway

2001). This method of privatisation may also be recognised as Build Operate and Transfer

(BOT). Graham (2003) recognises a number of variations to the BOT concept: Build Transfer

(BT), Build Rent Transfer (BRT), Design, Construct, Manage and Finance (DCMF) and Build,

Own, Operate, Transfer (BOOT).

5. Management Contract: The management contract offers a model of privatisation where

ownership remains with the government, and airport companies take the responsibility for

the day to day running of the operation. Investment will normally be the responsibility of

the government owner, and the contractor will pay an annual management fee, related to

the airport performance (Graham 2003).

Tretheway (2001) highlights some specific airport ownership/operational models currently in

use today which are unique in their application:

o Canada: Private not for profit airport authorities leasing land on a long term basis from the federal government.

o Australia: Pure private sector (for profit) operation, but with a long term lease of land from the federal government.



o Chile: Pure private sector (for profit) operation of Santiago’s international terminal via a medium term ground lease. Federal operation of the airfield and domestic terminal.

o Germany & New Zealand: private sector (for profit) operation and ownership of the airport but with local governments as minority investors and no federal government investment.

o New Zealand has a unique situation in that its airport legislation does not require continued operation as airports. Technically, an airport company could convert the land and buildings, to other uses.

2.8.5.3 The Next Step: Global Airport Operators

Companies like Schiphol Group, British Airports Authority and Macquarie Airports Group have

substantial interests in several international airports, including Australia, in partnership with

national companies, and /or local and municipal governments. These companies represent the

unique opportunity to move from an airport manager to the ownership, operation or

management of a global system of airports. The global branding and planning of facilities may

be seen to have advantages for the development of strategic airport cities and global hub

locations.

Traditionally some of the benefits of a company embracing global operations is the spread of

risk, and the commercialisation of systems of operation elsewhere. This objective of

globalisation is diminished in airport ownership because the corporation is operating in a

variety of regulatory environments; legislation in one country will almost certainly not be the

same in another. The airport industry is also unique in its fundamental political nature, and the

fact that it is easily impacted by changes in government policy and the addition or changes to,

legislation and regulation (Carney & Mew 2003).

Land Use and Compatibility 2.8.6

Compatibility and land use are crucial to the discussion of airport and regional planning. There

is a need to match the objectives of the airport operator; the municipal government and

importantly the community, by acknowledging that the future growth and prosperity of each is

a result of the other (Schalk & Ward 2010).

Within the literature (AOPA 1999; DoT 2002; Schalk & Ward 2010; WSDOT 1999) compatible

land uses are considered to be:



• Most commercial industrial uses, particularly those associated with the air transport industry;

• Land use, where the airport creates the demand; motels, warehouses, logistics firms, and any aviation support industry; and

• Open space utilisation through parks, golf courses, plant nurseries, forestry and agriculture.

Incompatible land uses are primarily associated with residential and community development,

which may be adversely impacted by an airports operation, and the construction of structures

which may impact the operation of the airport, such as high-rise development or tall

communications infrastructure. Historically any development which encouraged the gathering

of people, such as convention centres, educational facilities, and commercial office space, has

also been deemed incompatible, although in consideration of modern building specifications,

this is increasingly not the case.

Compatible or even appropriate development at airports is intended to result from the

establishment of cooperative and compatible land use plans. In the United States

comprehensive stakeholder agreed documents may include (AOPA 1999; DoT 2002):

• The zoning of compatible uses through land designation in town planning documents,

which recognise airport regions are suitable for particular land uses. These zonings

should have regard to the protection of critical approach and departure corridors

within the region, as a direct reflection of current and forecast airport noise overlays.

Zoning must also include restrictions to building height and density, preserving areas

for future aeronautical requirements.

• Building codes to establish noise performance requirements for the interior noise

levels of both new and existing structures on and near airports.

• Disclosure of airport location and potential noise impacts by aircraft traffic patterns

by real estate agents and developers.

• In the United States some governments allow the airport to purchase ‘avigation’

easements or development rights to property prior to general sale or from a property

owner. This in effect allows the airport to produce noise over the property, and /or

give them the right to ensure compatible development of the land, leaving the

property owner with all other rights.



REFERENCES8 2.9

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Chapter 3: Airport city developments in Australia 75


Chapter 3: Airport city developments in

Australia: land use classification and

analyses


Walker, Arron R. & Stevens, Nicholas J. (2008) Airport city developments in Australia: land use classification and analyses. In 10th TRAIL Congress and Knowledge Market, 14-15 October 2008, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 23 pages.

Contributor Statement of contribution Dr Arron Walker Signature:

Acquisition of data Data analysis Development of the article structure Drafting of the manuscript Conception and design Critical revision for important intellectual content Copyediting - grammatical assistance, stylistic suggestions to outline or draft

Mr Nicholas Stevens Signature:

Acquisition of data Data analysis Development of the article structure Drafting of the manuscript Critical revision for important intellectual content Conception and design Copyediting - grammatical assistance, stylistic suggestions to outline or draft


Prof. Douglas Baker

April 24, 2012

Name Signature Date



Abstract

In recent years the Australian air transport industry has experienced unprecedented

growth, driven by strong local and global economies. Whether this growth can continue in

the face of anticipated oil crises and slowing international economic forecasts is yet to be

seen. One thing is certain, airport owners and operators will continue to be faced with a

challenging environment in which to do business. In response to these challenges, many

airports are diversifying their revenue streams through landside property developments

within the airport boundary. This phenomenon is recognised as the development of an

‘airport city’ and has the potential to ensure an airport’s operating future, by means of

improving an airport’s profitability making it less susceptible to any downturns in the

aviation industry.

Between 1997 and 2002 twenty-two of Australia’s major airports were privatised under a

99 year lease arrangement with the Australian federal government. These leases have

given control of all airport development to the lessee, with negligible regard to the

planning intent of hinterland municipalities (providing the development complies with the

Airports Act 1996). It is evident that Australia’s airport city developments are in part

focused on the provision of retail and commercial services for the surrounding population

outside of any aeronautical function. It has been argued that these new developments have

the capacity to impact the character and progress of local and municipal retail and

commercial centres.

The primary purpose of this paper is to identify and categorise the on-airport development

which has been occurring at the twenty-two Australian airports which are administered

under the Airports Act 1996. The significance of this research is that it will quantify and

compare the land area available for landside property development within these airports

utilising a common nomenclature. This will allow for comparative analyses across airport

type (Regular Passenger Transport (RPT), General Aviation (GA) and Pilot Training (PT))

in relation to the extent and range of development, in addition to allowing airport

development intent to be reviewed in consideration of an airports passenger numbers and

aircraft movements. This research will assist Australian and international airport and

municipal planners in understanding the current extent and category of on-airport land

use, allowing them to make better decisions when proposing development both within

airport master plans and beyond the airport boundary in local town and municipal plans.

Keywords: Australia, airport city, on-airport development, land use classification



INTRODUCTION 3.1

The term ’airport city’ has been used to describe the growth of aeronautical and non-

aeronautical land developments occurring at modern airports worldwide. In its purist form an

airport city is the strategic expansion of on-site industrial, commercial and retail services and

facilities at an airport, with the intention of servicing both the travelling public and the regional

customer (Conway 1993; Kasarda 1996; Stevens et al. 2007). 9

Whilst these ‘airport city’ models exist there is very little empirical research into this changing

role of the modern airport. Airport corporations, as private companies in Australia, are

embracing the concept as strategic intent inducing a range of airport and regional land use

impacts and opportunities, yet without explicit acknowledgment of the wider urban system.

The following on-airport land use classification and analyses is part of a larger program of

airport and regional research. However this preliminary investigation will begin to assist

decision making by providing a national land use classification for airport development, and

therein providing a means of comparative analysis and understanding across a range of airport

contexts.

The paper is structured as follows: first, an overview of the current growth in the aviation

industry in Australia is briefly covered; including a discussion of how airport ownership is

structured in Australia. Secondly, we outline the method utilised to review the land use zoning

at the Australian airports administered by the Airports Act 1996. This is followed by a discussion

of the results for each airport investigated and the implications and intentions for future

research.

BACKGROUND 3.2

Aviation growth in Australia 3.2.1

In the 10 years from 1995 to 2005 passenger movements on domestic routes have increased in

Australia by an annual average of 4.6%. Within the same time frame international passenger

movements have increased by an annual average of 5.9%. Importantly in the three years from

2002 to 2005 domestic passenger movements have increased from 50 million to 68 million,

9 Two paragraphs following have been omitted as they again detail the aviapolis, aerotropolis and airfront.



representing an increase of 36%. Each day, well over 100,000 people fly from one Australian

airport to another, and almost 50,000 more leave or enter the country by air (DOTARS 2005).

Over the past decade the five major capital city airports in Australia have had significant

increases in passenger movement. Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne have had a

cumulative growth of 55%: in 1997 the total volume of domestic and regional passengers was

52.7 million passengers; by the end of 2006 this increased to 81.7 million people (DOTARS

2007). In addition it is easy to recognise the growing importance of airports as global gateways

of low weight/high value and just on time trade. In 2003/04 while only 0.1% of Australia’s total

international freight was carried by aircraft this equated to $AUD65.5 billion worth of freight –

some 26.4% of the total value (DOTARS 2005). While this feature of the aviation industry

provides obvious benefits to airport users, operators and providers, it also presents potential

new revenue streams for local industries and state/municipal governments.

Airport ownership in Australia 3.2.2

Since the end of World War II, there has been devolution of airport ownership both in Australia

and internationally. In Australia, the Federal Airports Corporation (FAC) when formed in 1988

had responsibility for only seventeen airports. The FAC operated on commercial lines utilising

the governance, management and incentive strategies of the private sector. The airports

operated by the FAC were leased individually on 50-year terms with an option for a further 49

years, and were put to tender in a two phase process. The first phase, May 1997, involving the

sale of Brisbane, Perth, and Melbourne airports; the second, March 1998, consisting of Adelaide,

Parafield, Darwin, Alice Springs/Tenant Creek, Archerfield, Canberra, Coolangatta, Hobart,

Jandakot, Launceston, Moorabbin and Townsville. Sydney’s Kingsford Smith airport was

withheld from both phases of sales due to unresolved noise issues and the ongoing debate about

the establishment of a second Sydney airport at Badgery’s Creek. In 1998 Sydney Airport

Corporation, a state owned entity was established to run the airport, and when plans for the

second airport were scrapped it would appear the airport would be privatised. Events of 2001

such as the World Trade Centre attacks and the collapse of the Australian domestic carrier

Ansett, again delayed the sale of the airport until June 2002, when a consortium headed by

Macquarie Airports Group bought it for $AUD5.6 billion, more than the combined total for all

the other airports (Freestone et al. 2006).



The new operators of the airports are bound by the Airports Act 1996, in addition to Federal

Government and international regulations that also control aviation. The objectives of the

Airports Act 1996 are defined as follows:

• to promote the sound development of civil aviation in Australia;

• to establish a system for the regulation of airports that has due regard to the interest of airport users and the general community;

• to promote the efficiency and economic development and operation of airports;

• to facilitate the comparison of airport performance in a transparent manner;

• to ensure majority Australian ownership of airports;

• to limit the ownership of airports by airlines;

• to ensure diversity of ownership and control of certain major airports; and

• to implement international obligations to airports.

In addition, the Airports Act 1996 outlines the planning and development requirements for these

airports through the use of airport master plans and major development plans.

Airport Planning under the Airports Act 1996 3.2.3

Two key features of the airport planning approvals process are master plans and major

development plans. A master plan is a long-term land use plan for the whole of an airport site

and deals with broader indicative intentions, rather than any detail on individual projects. The

master plan is required, under the Airports Act 1996, to relate to a period of 20 years and it must

be updated every five years (Freestone et al. 2006). The master plan is a strategic policy

document setting out the airport’s agenda for current and future airport management and

development. Section 71 of the Airports Act 1996 lists matters that must be included in a draft

master plan for an airport, including the airport lessee company’s assessment of future needs of

civil aviation and other users of the airport for services and facilities. Under section 79, before

submitting a draft master plan to the Federal Minister of the Department of Infrastructure,

Transport, Regional Development and Local Government (the Minister), the airport must

undertake a formal 90-day public consultation process. Details of the public consultation

undertaken, submissions received and details of consultation undertaken by the airport lessee

company prior to the formal public consultation period must be included in the draft master

plan lodged with the Minister (ibid).



Approval of a master plan does not represent approval to build any specific major development

referred to in the master plan. Major development applications must be separately approved. A

separate major development plan (MDP) is required for each development that is defined as

‘major’ by section 89 of the Airports Act 1996. This is an extensive definition, and includes

development such as constructing a new runway or extending an existing one; constructing a

new building wholly or principally for use as a passenger terminal where the building’s gross

floor area is greater than 500m2; constructing a new building not used wholly or principally as

a passenger terminal, whose construction cost exceeds $AUD20 million; and development of a

kind that is likely to have a significant environmental or ecological impact (Hooper et al. 2000).

The MDP is required to be released for public comment, be consistent with the intent of the

master plan and include an environmental impact assessment.

Any development on airports is only governed under the Airports Act 1996, and as such master

plans and MDP’s are submitted to the Federal Minister of the Department of Infrastructure,

Transport, Regional Development and Local Government for approval. That is, Australian

airport lessee companies are not required to have due regard to local or state planning

regulations. Section 112 of the Airports Act 1996 specifically excludes state laws from applying

in relation to land use planning and building activities. It is this fact that has been the source of

on-going airport and regional conflict regarding the expansion of retail and commercial

development of airport land.

Diversification of airport revenue 3.2.4

Airport privatisation was primarily an opportunity to unburden the nation from public sector

funding of airport development. It has resulted in airport operators wanting highest returns on

their investment, and they have been quick to outline expectations for the capitalisation of their

land assets in the legislatively required master planning process. Airport corporations recognise

that they cannot survive by landing planes, and need to diversify their commercial interests as

means of ensuring profitability. For example, the average net profit margin for the 50 leading

global airport groups in 2001 was 11%. The 50 major airlines were -4% in the same period

(Graham 2003).

In many models of ‘airport city’ development (Kasarda 1991; Conway 1993; Blanton 2004)

landside developments are more often a product of the function of the airport, seeking to

internalise the development to assist and encourage the exploitation of the airport and its

aeronautical function. This is generally not the case in the Australian context, where the land



side developments are looking externally, beyond the airport perimeter for customers, drawing

in a regional catchment of new consumers at the airport.

In Australia, the development of business and technology parks and retail complexes is a

preferred commercial strategy at airports where suitable land assets exist, and where landside

access infrastructure will allow such development. Although it may be recognised that even

without accounting for accessibility, a growing number of regionally focussed airport retail

districts are gaining popularity at Australian airports (SGS 2003). It has been argued that this

type of on-airport expansion has the potential to impact on the viability of urban centre retailing

through the diversion of expenditure, often away from city planned and intended centres of

employment and commerce (FCA 2005). Such development is typified by the provision of

hardware stores and ‘direct factory outlets’ or a range of retail, clothing, electronics, and

speciality stores which one would expect to find within regional centres. Some airports are also

developing supermarkets, and taverns (hotels), significantly away from, and with limited access

to, the aviation function of the airport. A different set of airport and regional operating

environments are created when airports draw on regional catchments of the non-travelling

public to generate an increasing proportion of commercial revenue. These regional commercial

strategies are recognised as having the potential to imperil airport access as transport

connections are increasingly congested with retail and commercial traffic (MIC 1999; SGS

2003). In Australia, an improved understanding of current and intended on-airport land use is

necessary if airport and municipal planners are to advance cooperative and compatible

development.

LAND USE ANALYSIS: METHODS AND MATERIALS 3.3

This section will discuss the rationale of selecting the airports in the study group, and the

process utilised to produce the airport land use zoning maps and subsequent spatial analysis.

Airport study group 3.3.1

Twenty-two Australian airports are administered under the Airports Act 1996; of these twenty

must comply with part 5 of the Airports Act 1996 and produce a master plan which includes land

use zoning information. These airports have been deemed significant to the nation and were

chosen as the airports of interest for this paper (Figure 1). All of these airports operate under a

leased ownership arrangement. This research will indicate if the private companies that leased



these airports have indeed engaged or are intending to engage in property development and to

what extent. The airports included in the study are listed in Table 1. Three types of airports

were identified in the study group; Regular Passenger Transport (RPT), General Aviation (GA)

and Pilot Training (PT) airports. Unfortunately passenger and freight data was not available for

all airports listed, however aircraft movement data was available for the entire study group.

Table 1 also displays the airport property area in hectares and lists the airport owner

information.

Figure 1: Study group within Australia

Table 1: Airport study group

Airport Code Type Passenger movements 2006- 2007

Aircraft movements 2006 - 2007

Freight movements 2006- 2007

(tonnes)

Airport Property

Area (hectares)

Owner

Adelaide ADL RPT 6,181,390 103,028 18,668 785 Adelaide Airport Ltd Alice

Springs ASP GA 624,326 22,692 NA 3550 Northern Territory

Airports Pty Ltd

Archerfield YBAF GA & PT NA 119,644 NA 259 Archerfield Airport Corporation Pty Ltd

Bankstown BWU GA & PT NA 329,550 NA 313 Bankstown Airport

Limited

Brisbane BNE RPT 17,379,809 169,296 88,575 2700 Brisbane Airport

Corporation Camden CDU GA & PT NA 10,190 NA 194 Camden Airport Limited

Canberra CBR RPT 2,687,336 78,484 NA 436 Capital Airport Group Pty

Ltd



Coolangatta

OOL RPT 3,777,856 68,416 2 365 Queensland Airports Pty

Ltd

Darwin DRW RPT 1,403,685 87,632 327 1540 Northern Territory

Airports Pty Ltd Essendon MEB GA & PT 6,883 56,784 NA 305 Essendon Airport Pty Ltd

Hobart HBA RPT 1,629,417 29,978 NA 499 Hobart International

Airport Pty Ltd Hoxton

Park YHOX GA NA 40,000 NA 87

Hoxton Park Airport Limited

Jandakot JAD GA & PT NA 387,722 NA 622 Jandakot Airport Holdings

Pty Ltd Launcesto

n LST GA & PT 995,664 20,322 NA 180

Australia Pacific Airports Corporation

Melbourne MEL RPT 22,156,871 180,814 203,505 2647 Australia Pacific Airports

Corporation

Moorabbin MBW GA & PT 8,676 276,146 NA 294 Moorabbin Airport

Corporation Parafield ADZ GA & PT NA 227,910 NA 437 Parafield Airport Ltd

Perth PER RPT 7,977,091 103,976 64,786 2105 Westralia Airports

Corporation Pty Ltd

Sydney SYD RPT 31,016,186 286,342 369,956 905 Macquarie Airports Group

Townsville TSV RPT 1,271,649 60,612 NA 937 Queensland Airports Pty Ltd

Spatial analysis process utilised to create land use zoning maps 3.3.2

The land use zoning information was obtained from twenty airport master plans submitted to

the Australian government as required by the Airports Act 1996. These documents are freely

available on the Internet at each airport’s respective website. Unfortunately the land use zoning

information could only be obtained as raster images without any geo-referencing information.

Consequently, the first step was to geo-reference the land use zoning information in a

geographic information system (GIS). Once geo-referenced the raster images were converted

into polygon feature classes. This was achieved by manually digitising each of the land use zones

to create separate polygons in the feature class. The attributes for each polygon contained the

original land use zone information obtained from the master plan image. The use of a manual

digitising process was feasible as the number of airports in the study group was small.

Re-classification of land use zoning 3.3.3

Whilst the Airports Act 1996 seeks to ensure a common planning language between airport

master plans and their municipal regions, no such land use zoning nomenclature exists

nationally. It was therefore necessary to re-classify the inconsistent airport master plan zoning

into a common set of zoning categories. Without such a re-classification the comparison of the



respective land use zones would be impossible. The descriptions of the re-classified zoning

categories are shown in Table 2, whilst the colour representations are depicted in Figure 3.

Table 2: Zoning Categories

Zoning Category Description

Airport Airside Aviation operational areas, terminal and aviation support areas

Residential Predominant use is housing Commercial Retail, business, community, leisure,

entertainment, recreation, hotels, conference facilities, shopping centres (will largely be non-aeronautical

Commercial and Industrial Mixed use commercial and industrial Industrial Warehousing, freight, manufacturing, service

orientated businesses (may be either aeronautical or non-aeronautical)

RAAF Base Military airbase of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The Australian Department of Defence has planning and control of this area

Open space and conservation Open areas, nature based recreation areas, protected areas.

Figure 2 Land use zoning legend

The final step of the process was to calculate the percentage of total area for each zoning

category. The polygon feature class used automatically calculates polygon areas as they are

digitised. A simple GIS attribute query was written to calculate the percentages from this

information. The resulting percentages are shown in Table 3.



Table 3 Land use zoning percentages

Land Use

Zoning

ADL

ASP

YBAF

BWU

BNE

CDU

CBR

OO

L

DRW

MEB

HBA

YHO

X

JAD

LST

MEL

MBW

ADZ

PER

SYD

TSV

Aver

age

Stan

dard

Dev

(σ)

Residential 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.55 2.4

Commercial 17 4 0 16 20 5 18 18 4 23 0 0 25 2 7 7 15 3 3 0 9.35 8.4

Commercial

and

Industrial

13 0 37 35 25 2 37 0 0 16 34 13 0 0 10 52 8 30 8 7 16.35 15.6

Industrial 0 4 6 0 0 0 0 11 1 0 0 0 0 5 7 0 17 0 3 0 2.7 4.5

Landside

Development

subtotal

30 19 43 51 45 7 55 29 5 39 34 13 25 7 24 59 40 33 14 7 28.95 16.5

Open Space

and

Conservatio

n

13 65 2 4 2 25 0 25 3 0 20 27 37 0 21 0 9 14 4 0 13.55 16.2

RAAF Base 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 78 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 91 8.45 25.4

Airport

Airside

(incl.

terminal

and

aviation spt)

57 16 55 45 53 68 45 46 14 61 46 60 38 93 55 41 51 53 82 2 49.05 20.7

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.4

This section presents the results of the spatial analysis of the land use zoning data. First the

overall group result will be discussed and subsequently each airport in the study group will be

presented and discussed in turn. The total land use zoning percentages for each airport are

summarised in Table 3. The landside development subtotal is the sum of all residential,

commercial and industrial development and is shown as the italicised values (shaded row) in

Table 3. This subtotal is significant as it represents the proportion of land zoned for on-airport

property development (i.e., aeronautical or non- aeronautical). The land use zoning maps for all

airports are shown in Figures 6 to 25. All these maps are presented using a common scale

(1:40,000) in order to show the relative airport property sizes. The average percentages for the

land use zoning categories for the study area (the right-hand column in Table 3) are shown as

pie chart in Figure 4. On average, 50% of the airport is utilised for airside activities, 8% for

Defence uses, 13% for open spaces and 29% for landside development activities. In addition the



standard deviation was calculated for each zoning category, so as the measure of dispersion

could be calculated and discussed for each airport (Table3).

In an attempt to discover relationships between landside development and airport area a

scatter plot was produced to compare these two variables. Figure 5 shows the resulting scatter

plot. Alice Springs Airport (ASP) (having the largest area) can be seen at the far right and

Moorabbin Airport (MBW) is shown in the top left with the largest landside development

percentage. From this figure it is apparent that no strong relationship exists between airport

area and landside development percentage. For example, BNE and YBAF have very similar

proportions of landside development but totally different airport areas. A similar method was

used to evaluate landside development percentage against both the number of passengers and

aircraft movements at each airport. From these investigations, no clear correlation between

variables became apparent.

This result although disappointing was not unexpected. The urban environment has many

complex variables and factors which govern the space in which development can and will occur.

Therefore it is naïve to think that only variables on airport property would have an effect on

landside development zoning. It is highly probably that there is a combination of airport and

surrounding urban development factors that are contributing to the proportion of landside

development zoning and the discovery of these factors is intended for future research.

Figure 4: Land use zoning percentages Figure 5: Landside development vs. airport area

In the following analysis of the study group particular aspects of each airports development will

be presented in turn. The paper will discuss the comparative percentages of landside

development (shaded row Table 3) in addition to presenting the number of standard deviations

Residential1%

Commercial9%

Commercial and Industrial

16%

Industrial3%

Open Space or Conservation

13%RAAF Base

8%

Airport Airside (incl. terminal and aviation

spt)50%



this figure represents from the mean. The standard deviation is a measure of the dispersion of

the values. It is defined as the root-mean square (RMS) deviation of the values from their mean.

If many data points are close to the mean, then the standard deviation is small; if many data

points are far from the mean, then the standard deviation is large. If all data values are equal,

then the standard deviation is zero.

This analysis will offer an indication of an airport’s development in consideration of the group

providing a better suggestion of how the airports actual and intended on-airport development

fits within the national profile. This information may be considered useful when evaluating the

scope and scale of on-airport development between the different types of airports in the study

group; Regular Passenger Transport (RPT), General Aviation (GA) and Pilot Training (PT)

airports. Further detailed analyses may be undertaken utilising this method, however for the

purposes of this paper only landside development has presented.

Adelaide Airport (ADL) - RPT 3.4.1

Adelaide Airport has 30% of its available land zoned for landside development and 57% for

airside development (Table 3). The land zoned for landside development represents an x value

of 0.063 away from the standard deviation of 16.5, indicating a value very close to the mean for

the study group. The airside development x value of 0.38, away from the standard deviation

indicates an airside area marginally above the mean for the group. The landside proportion is

consistent with the group and shows the extent to which Adelaide Airport intends to pursue its

commercial development strategy. The land use zoning for ADL is shown in Figure 6 and the

development within these areas is well established. Adelaide Airport has opened two major

retail facilities in recent years, a Harbour Town factory outlets centre and an IKEA store, in

addition to completing a major upgrade of its terminal facilities that has incorporated an

expanded airside retail area occupying around 3400sqm. Adelaide Airport is currently working

on expanding the Harbour Town complex, adding a further 18 brand outlets, and a supermarket

to serve surrounding residents and airport employees. The proposed extension would add an

estimated 4000sqm of brand outlet floor space and 3900sqm of supermarket floor space with

construction expected to be complete in late 2008.



Figure 6: Land use zoning Adelaide Airport (ADL)

Alice Springs Airport (ASP) - GA 3.4.2

Alice Springs Airport is the largest in Australia in terms of land area with approximately 3,550

hectares as shown in Figure 7 and Table 1. In establishing the original airport site, a large area

of land within the boundary was set aside to ensure dust suppression and therein operational

safety. Consequently a large part of Alice Springs Airport is unsuitable for development. Longer-

term development will be restricted to the north side of the runway, whilst land to the south

continues to provide dust suppression. Within the available area, Alice Springs Airport has

zoned 19% for landside development as shown in Table 3. This represents an x value of -0.60

away from the standard deviation, indicating that the airports landside proportion is below

average for the study group but given the environmental constraints low demand for

development it is still significant. Alice Springs is the only airport in the study group to have

zoned an area for residential development. In fact 11% has been zoned residential to the north

of the property, which is a very significant x value of 4.16 standard deviations from the mean.

This unique strategy has not result in any residential development being constructed at this

stage.

Figure 7: Land use zoning Alice Springs Airport (ASP)



Archerfield Airport (YBAF) – GA/PT 3.4.3

Archerfield Airport is situated in one of Brisbane’s fastest growing industrial areas and as a

result has zoned 43% of its available land to landside development (See Table 3). This

proportion of land represents an x value of 0.85 standard deviations above the mean, and whilst

not the largest value of the group is consistent with the land side development intentions of

mixed General Aviation (GA)/ Pilot Training (PT) airports. There is over 75 hectares of

undeveloped land on the Airport that is intended to be developed for aeronautical and non-

aeronautical purposes as shown in Figure 8. Archerfield Airport’s master plan states that this

area is intended for commercial and industrial development and will be progressively

developed to underpin the viability of the airport (AAC 2005).

Figure 8: Land use zoning Archerfield Airport (YBAF)

Bankstown Airport (BWU) – GA/PT 3.4.4

Bankstown Airport is very similar to Archerfield Airport both in size and in their development

philosophy, however with significantly more aircraft movements. Bankstown Airport consists of

313 hectares of land and is approximately 30 minutes drive to Sydney’s Kingsford Smith

Airport, Sydney CBD and Port Botany via the M5 Motorway. The proportion of landside

development is above average at 51%, representing a significant x value of 1.34 standard

deviations from the mean. The land use zoning and master plan intention is for a wide variety of

uses from light industrial activities to manufacturing and logistics and is shown in Figure 9.

Three separate precincts are planned providing dedicated employment land, industrial facilities

and business space. The northern precinct is currently home to the majority of Bankstown

Airport’s tenants.



Figure 9: Land use zoning Bankstown Airport (BWU)

Brisbane Airport (BNE) - RPT 3.4.5

Brisbane Airport has the second largest airport property size in Australia (2700 hectares) as

shown in Figure 10. The land use zonings for Brisbane Airport are shown in Figure 10. From

Table 3, it can be seen that landside development has the potential to occupy 45% of the total

airport area, representing an x value of 0.97 standard deviations from the mean, placing it

within the group of airports with the largest areas designated for landside development.

Brisbane airport is well advanced with regard to its on-airport development, including retail

facilities such as the Direct Factory Outlet and Woolworths supermarket. Brisbane Airport

Corporation Limited acquired Brisbane Airport in 1997. Its vision is to turn a city airport into an

‘airport city’ consisting of seven integrated precincts that together will provide a 1000 hectare,

24 hour global trade and commerce centre, attracting business, jobs and prosperity to

Queensland (BAC 2005). In 2008 approximately 320 businesses and nearly 16,000 people work

on Brisbane Airport every day. This is forecast to increase to 42,500 people by 2023.

Figure 10: Land use zoning Brisbane Airport (BNE)



Camden Airport (CDU) - GA 3.4.6

Camden is a small GA airport of 194 hectares as shown in Table 1. The land use zonings for

Camden Airport are shown in Figure 11. From this image it may be see that Camden Airport is

surrounded on three sides by a river which limits its potential for landside development.

Consequently Camden Airport’s proportion of landside development is low at only 7%,

representing an x value of -1.33 standard deviations below the mean. This is a significant value,

when considering the general landside development intentions, and x values of other GA and PT

airports. The existing businesses at Camden Airport are few and mainly related to supporting

general aviation at the airport.

Figure 11: Land use zoning Camden Airport (CDU)

Canberra Airport (CBR) - RPT 3.4.7

The land use zoning categorisations for Canberra Airport are shown in Figure 12. At 55%,

Canberra Airport has the second largest proportion zoned for landside development,

representing a significant x value of 1.58 standard deviations above the mean. Canberra airport

has divided the airport into four major precincts: South East, South West, North East, and North

West. The terminal facilities and Brindabella Business Park are located within the South West

precinct. Since the change of ownership in 1998 Canberra Airport has undergone significant

rebuilding of the airport’s infrastructure with an $AUD250 million terminal upgrade and

runway extension, together with the simultaneous construction of the Brindabella Business

Park, including 20,000sqm of new office space. The number of airport businesses has grown

from 70 to 115 and the number of jobs has almost doubled from 1,660 to 3,100. More recently

the landside development of the North West precinct has seen the inclusion of ‘out of town’

retailing in the form of a Brand Depot complex which incorporates over 70 retail ‘factory’

outlets and 1,700 free car parks.



Figure 12: Land use zoning Canberra Airport (CBR)

Coolangatta Airport (OOL) - RPT 3.4.8

Coolangatta Airport is home to one of the last remaining development land banks on the Gold

and Tweed Coasts (Figure 13). The airport has 365 hectares of land and five precincts have been

identified for development within the master plan. Coolangatta Airport is serviced by air, road

and soon to be completed rail transport making it a prime location for the establishment of

logistics based companies. Coolangatta Airport has 29% of its total airport area zoned for land

side development, resulting in an x value of 0.03 standard deviations from the mean,

representing a development area consistent with the standard of national study group.

Figure 13: Land use zoning Coolangatta Airport (OOL)

Darwin Airport (DRW) - RPT 3.4.9

Darwin Airport has 1540 hectares (see Table 1) of which 324 hectares is controlled by Northern

Territory Airports Pty Ltd and the remainder controlled by Department of Defence as Royal

Australian Air Force base, reducing the amount of land available for development. The land use

zoning categorisation for Darwin Airport is illustrated in Figure 14. Darwin has only 5% (Table



3) of total land area zoned for landside development, a significant x value of -1.45 standard

deviations below the national study group mean. Darwin Airport has recently negotiated an

agreement with the retail developer, Ticor Developments Pty Ltd, to build an $AUD100 million

45,000sqm home and lifestyle retail centre at the airport’s 87ha business park. This business

park opened in 2006 with a 14,000sqm Bunnings Warehouse hardware store as the anchor

tenant.

Figure 14: Land use zoning Darwin Airport (DRW)

Essendon Airport (MEB) - GA/PT 3.4.10

Essendon Airport is within close proximity to Melbourne Airport as illustrated in Figure 15

(Melbourne airport is the coloured area in the upper left of Figure 15). Essendon Airport has a

higher than normal proportion (39%) of land zoned for landside development, with an x value

of 0.61 standard deviations above the mean. This x value however is low in comparison to the

landside development areas of other GA and PT airports (Table 3). The current landside

developments include approximately 125 tenants utilising various offices, warehouse and

storage. A ‘Direct Factory Outlet’ with bulky retail and a supermarket are situated in the

Southeast of the airport. At 305 hectares, Essendon Airport may be considered an example of a

small airport adopting a regional retail focussed development philosophy.



Figure 15: Land use zoning Essendon (MEB)

Hobart Airport (HBA) - RPT 3.4.11

Hobart Airport has zoned 34% of its 499ha of land for landside development. This figure is

marginally above average for the study group (Table 3) and represents an x value of 0.3

standard deviations from the mean. Hobart Airport plans to add around 40,000sqm of

regionally focused retail space with a 50-store Factory Outlet complex and a bulky goods centre

in the North Western development zone (Figure 16). This development plan gained federal

government planning approval in 2007, after reducing the size of the original proposal and is

expected to be completed in 2009.

Figure 16: Land use zoning Hobart Airport (HBA)



Hoxton Park Airport (YHOX) – GA10 3.4.12

Hoxton Park Airport is the smallest airport in the group at only 87 hectares (Table 1); however

the airport has designated 13% of this land for landside development (Table 3), resulting in an x

value of -0.96 standard deviations below the mean. This development area is located in the

Western part of the property as shown in Figure 17. The primary aim of their development

intention is to facilitate a wide range of activities both aeronautical to non-aeronautical to

capitalise on the limited land assets they possess. In review of their master plan Hoxton Park

Airport may be considered a leading example of a very small airport with a clear landside

development strategy.

Figure 17: Land use zoning Hoxton Park Airport (YHOX)

Jandakot Airport (JAD) - GA/PT 3.4.13

As shown in Table 1, Jandakot Airport is the busiest Australian airport in terms of aircraft

movements. Jandakot Airport is a major pilot training facility and is situated on 622 hectares. A

large area to the north west of the terminals has been zoned for commercial development as

shown in Figure 18. This area represents 25% of the area of Jandakot Airport (Table 3), slightly

below the study group’s average for landside development, and represents an x value of -0.24

standard deviations below the mean. Despite the airports ongoing use as an important PT

airport, it has also focussed primarily on a non-aeronautical regional retail strategy. The

development area is known as ‘Jandakot City’ and a number of offices and commercial buildings

have been built there since 2006, including a retail homemaker and bulky goods centre.

10 Hoxton Park Aerodrome was decommissioned at 11pm on the 15th December 2008 and the site has been redeveloped as a business precinct.



Figure 18: Land use zoning Jandakot Airport (JAD)

Launceston Airport (LST) - GA/PT 3.4.14

Launceston Airport is the second smallest airport in the group with only 180 hectares of land as

shown in Table 1 and Figure 19. All the land to the East is required for aviation, aviation support

and operational services uses. A smaller than average proportion of 7%, an x value of -1.33

standard deviations from the mean, has been zoned for landside development. This equates to

an area of 2.8 hectares proposed for commercial uses however this area remains undeveloped

at this time.

Figure 19: Land use zoning Launceston Airport (LST)

Melbourne Airport (MEL) - RPT 3.4.15

Melbourne Airport has the third largest airport area of 2647 hectares (Table 1). As indicated in

Table 3, Melbourne Airport has zoned 24% of its property for landside development, an x value

of -0.3 standard deviations below the mean. The landside development is located in the south

eastern corner of the property as illustrated in Figure 20. As of March 2008, Melbourne Airport

is investing in an upgrade of its international terminals, spending $AUD330 million over the



next five years. A new passenger concourse of 7000sqm is part of the project along with an

entire new international passenger precinct that will add more than 5000sqm of new airside

passenger lounge, café, duty free and specialty shop space by 2011. With regard to its landside

developments Melbourne Airport has recently gained federal government planning approval to

build a 48,000sqm retail centre including bulky goods retailers and a supermarket.

Figure 20: Land use zoning Melbourne Airport (MEL)

Moorabbin Airport (MBW) - GA/PT 3.4.16

Moorabbin Airport has the largest percentage of land zoned for landside development with 59%

(Table 3) this figure represents an x value of 1.82 standard deviations above the mean and is

consistent with x values of GA and PT airport within the study group. It is one of the smallest

airports in terms of land size (294 hectares) but is the fourth busiest in terms of aircraft

movements (Table 1). As shown in Figure 21 the development zones spread North, South, East

and West to maximise the available land. In the Northwest of the airport site is an existing retail

activity node with associated car parking. The Chifley Industry Park is situated in the North-

eastern area. On the Eastern and South periphery of the airport land a restaurant; landscape

garden suppliers and timber sales; Kingston Golf Course and a service station are located. All

these existing activities illustrate the maturity of the landside development at Moorabbin

Airport and their master plan intent to capitalise on their land assets for regional retail

purposes.



Figure 21: Land use zoning Moorabbin Airport (MBW)

Parafield Airport (ADZ) - GA/PT 3.4.17

Parafield Airport is a GA and PT airport operated by Adelaide Airports Limited, the airport

lessee company for Adelaide Airport. As shown in Table 3, Parafield Airport has 40% of its land

zoned for landside development, an x value of 0.67 standard deviations above the mean. The

main building area, covering 20 hectares is located in the Northern region of the airport, and

primarily accommodates commercial lease properties. The facilities include aircraft hangars,

workshops, student accommodation, flying schools and a range of non-aeronautical facilities

(e.g. clubs, sporting/recreational reserves), with the control tower located on the Southern

boundary. The commercial estate is the most recently developed precinct of the airport,

providing approximately 17 hectares of serviced commercial land in the north-east corner of

the airport as shown Figure 22.

Figure 22: Land use zoning Parafield Airport (ADZ)



Perth Airport (PER) - RPT 3.4.18

The land use zoning of Perth Airport is shown in Figure 23 and as Table 3 indicates a landside

area of 33% is available for development from a site total of 2,105 hectares, representing an x

value of 0.24 standard deviations from the study group mean. To date Perth Airport’s business

park has extensive warehouse and distribution facilities with Coles and Woolworths (retail food

companies) both estate tenants. Additionally Perth Airport is home to BCG Pty Ltd Brickworks a

facility with the ability to produce 110 million standard brick equivalents annually. This

controversial non-aeronautical development occupies 30 hectares and received over 260 public

submissions during its initial consultation phase in 2006. As of March 2008, Perth Airport is

reviewing development options with passenger numbers last year (2007) up 1 million from

2006 to 8 million. In addition Perth is upgrading a domestic terminal which is expected to

provide an opportunity to add further airside retail.

Figure 23: Land use zoning Perth Airport (PER)

Sydney Airport (SYD) - RPT 3.4.19

Sydney Airport, Australia’s busiest passenger airport is an example of an airport that has little

available land for non-aeronautical related development. The airport is situated on 905 hectares

of which 14% has been zoned for landside development (Table 3), an x value of -0.91 standard

deviations below the mean. The land use zoning for Sydney Airport reveals that the only major

land allocated for commercial development is in the southeast of the property (Figure 24).

Sydney Airport has been unsuccessful in obtaining approval from the federal government to

develop this land and consequently it remains mostly unimproved at his stage. Sydney Airport

has embarked on a terminal redevelopment that encompasses the creation of an airside and

landside shopping environment presenting a range of restaurants, specialty stores and general

retail. The project will increase the current three food and beverage outlets to nine and extend



the existing 17 specialty retail outlets in the terminal to 42. The $AUD500 million upgrade of the

terminal, which is expected to be completed in 2009, will see both airside and landside offer 26

food and beverage outlets and 56 specialty stores. Indeed the popularity of shopping at Sydney

Airport has made the retail precinct of Sydney Airport Terminal 1 one of the largest shopping

centres by turnover in the Sydney metropolitan region.

Figure 24: Land use zoning Sydney Airport (SYD)

Townsville Airport (TSV) - RPT 3.4.20

Townsville Airport operates under a joint user agreement with the Department of Defence and

leases 81 hectares of the airport for civil aviation purposes. The remaining 856 hectares are

utilised by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as shown in Figure 25. As a joint user facility,

the responsibility for planning and development of Townsville Airport is shared by both the

Department of Defence and Queensland Airports Pty Ltd. From Table 3 it may be seen that the

defence use of the airport occupies 91% of total use, with only 7% available for landside

development, representing a significantly low x value of -1.33 standard deviations below the

mean. Despite the relatively limited space Townsville Airport is home to Australia’s newest

aviation business park, the Northern Australian Aerospace Centre of Excellence (NAACEX): a

high security, fully serviced aerospace and aviation support precinct and business park.

NAACEX will provide a cluster of aerospace and aviation support industries (both commercial

and defence) servicing Australia and the South East Asia- Pacific region (QAL, 2007).



Figure 25: Land use zoning Townsville Airport (TSV)

CONCLUSION 3.5

In Australia it would appear that the amount of land being zoned for landside development has

no relation to an airport’s size (both in terms of property area and in terms of passenger or

freight movements). In fact, the strategy to diversify revenue at Australian airports through real

estate has resulted in a spate of development activity on airport property. All of the airports in

the study group have zoned their land assets with capitalisation of landside development in

mind and therein to some extent have embraced the ‘airport city’ concept.

In Australia, there is a perceived disjunction between the airside operations of many airports

and the kinds of development being proposed and established within their boundaries. It would

appear that a number of the airports studied have adopted a development strategy which

focuses on offering retail goods and services for the regional consumer as a means of providing

the desired alternate revenue stream. It is this type of federally approved development that is at

the core of airport operator and municipal conflict over the establishment of competing retail

centres. The medium to long term implications for such development is yet to be established,

but what is certain is the continuing discourse between the airport and the region will limit the

establishment of cooperative strategies of ‘airport city’ development in the manner of the

spatial models discussed.

This work is the first step in providing a clearer understanding of the development intentions of

airport operators in Australia, utilising a common land use planning nomenclature. This lack of

national consistency regarding Australian airport master planning was one of the foci of a

recently released issues paper for the development of an Australian National Aviation Policy

Statement by the Federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and

Local Government. By establishing a comparative platform for the analysis of on-airport



development both airport and municipal planners may begin to recognise where and how their

airport and region fits into the dialogue surrounding land use compatibility. In addition, through

the classification of airport operations (RPT, GA, PT) and the analysis of their development

intentions, the relationships between aeronautical function and on-airport land use may be

better understood. This work will assist both national and international airport and municipal

planners in recognising the extent, and type of, actual and proposed on-airport land use in

Australia. This will establish a national reference for decision making when proposing

development both within airport master plans and beyond the airport boundary in local town

and regional plans.

Analyses at this scale can only make assumptions about the relationships between the different

zoning categories. Further detailed analyses are required to determine the on-airport and

regional implications of the development intentions outlined by the airports in the study group.

However, given that most of the commercial and industrial land zoned at these airports is yet to

be fully developed, the successes of their zoning strategies may only be evident as more actual

development manifests.

REFERENCES 3.6

Archerfield Airport Corporation (AAC) (2005) Archerfield Airport Master Plan 2005.

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) (1999). Guide to Airport Noise and Compatible Land Use. http://www.aopa.org/asn/land_use/ (Accessed 25/10/2006).

Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) (2005) Brisbane Airport Master Plan 2005.

Blanton, W. (2004) On the Airfront. Planning, 70, 34-35.

Conway, M. (1993) Airport Cities 21, Atlanta, Conway Data.

Department of Transport. (DoT) (2002). State of California. Division of Aeronautics. California Airport Land Use Planning Handbook. January. (accessed 27/06/2006) [http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/planning/aeronaut/htmlfile/landuse.php]

Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS) (2005) Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics. Australian Transport Statistics. June., http://www.btre.gov.au/statistics/general/trnstats05/ATS05.pdf accessed on 27 June 2006.

Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS) (2007) AVLINE, Issue 10, July 2007. Canberra, Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS).



Federal Court of Australia (FCA) (2005). Westfield Management Ltd v Brisbane Airport Corporation Ltd. [2005] FCA 32.

FINAVIA (2004) Civil Aviation Administration. Annual Report. Finnish CAA. Freathy, P. & O’Connell, F. (1999) Planning for profit: the commercialization of European airports. Long Range Planning, 32, 587-597.

Freestone, R., Williams, P. & Bowden, A. (2006) Fly Buy Cities: Some planning aspects of airport privatisation in Australia. Urban Policy and Research, 24, 491-508.

Graham, A. (2003) Managing Airports, Oxford, Elsevier.

Hooper, P., Cain, R. & White, S. (2000) The privatisation of Australia's airports. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 36, 181-204.

Kasarda, J. D. (1991) An industrial/aviation complex for the future. Urban Land.

Kasarda, J. D. (1996) Airport-related industrial development. Urban Land.

May, M. & Hill, S. (2006). Questioning airport expansion – A case study of Canberra International Airport. Journal of Transport Geography. 14:437 - 450

Metropolis International Congress (MIC), 6th (1999). Final Report. Commission 1: Airports and their Surrounding Zones as Catalysts of Metropolitan Development. Barcelona. [http://www.metropolis.org/index.php?action=mostrar_contenido&id_seccion=70&te mplate=interior]

Queensland Airports Limited (QAL) (2007) Queensland Airports Limited Annual Report.

Quiggin, J. (1997) Evaluating airline deregulation in Australia. The Australian Economic Review, 30, 45-56.

SGS Economics and Planning. (2003). Economic Impacts of Activity Centre Development at Canberra International Airport. (Prepared on behalf of the Chief Minister’s Department), ACT Government. August.

Stevens, N., Baker, D. & Freestone, R. (2007) Understanding the Australian Airport Metropolis. State of Australian Cities 2007. Adelaide.

Western Australian Government Gazette (WAGG) (2004). (SPP 5.1) Western Australian Planning Commission – Statement of Planning Policy No. 5.1 Land Use Planning in the Vicinity of Perth Airport. 24 February 2004. [http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/publications/policies/SPP/SPP_5_1.pdf]

Chapter 4: Airports in their urban settings 104


4Chapter 4: Airports in their urban settings:

towards a conceptual model of interfaces in

the Australian context


Stevens, Nicholas J., Baker, Douglas C., & Freestone, Robert (2010) Airports in their urban settings: towards a conceptual model of interfaces in the Australian context. Journal of Transport Geography, 18(2): 276-284.

Contributor Statement of contribution


Acquisition of data Data analysis Development of the article structure Drafting of the manuscript Conception and design Critical revision for important intellectual content Copyediting - grammatical assistance, stylistic suggestions to outline or draft Production assistance, e.g., assembling tables, graphs, figures, photos or other illustrations Submission management and journal liaison


Acquisition of data Development of the article structure Drafting of the manuscript Conception and design Copyediting - grammatical assistance, stylistic suggestions to outline or draft Editorial assistance, e.g., preparing references, fact-checking, labelling illustrations or tables

Prof. Robert Freestone Signature:

Acquisition of data Development of the article structure Drafting of the manuscript Critical revision for important intellectual content Conception and design Copyediting - grammatical assistance, stylistic suggestions to outline or draft


Prof. Douglas Baker

April 24, 2012

Name Signature Date



Abstract

In Australia, airports have emerged as important sub-regional activity centres and now

pose challenges for both airport operation and planning in the surrounding urban and

regional environment. The changing nature of airports in their metropolitan context and

the emergence of new pressures and problems require the introduction of a fresh

conceptual framework to assist the better understanding of these complex roles and

spatial interactions. The approach draws upon the meta-concept of interfaces of an

‘airport metropolis’ as an organising device consisting of four main domains: economic

development, land use, infrastructure, and governance. The paper uses the framework to

further discuss airport and regional interactions and highlights the use of sustainability

criteria to operationalise the model. The approach aims to move research and practice

beyond the traditionally compartmentalised analysis of airport issues and policy-making

by highlighting interdependencies between airports and regions.

Keywords: airport; metropolis; interfaces; land use; infrastructure; governance; economic

development; sustainability

INTRODUCTION 4.1

Airports are a vital component of the transport infrastructure of modern cities and have proven

increasingly influential in shaping urban form and structure. The growth of cities has also

impacted on airports, their scale and operations (Kasarda, 2001; Schaafsma, 2008). This

reciprocity of impacts has intensified in the last thirty years as air travel has expanded and has

been amplified through forces of privatisation, corporatisation and globalisation (Graham,

2003). Market forces, corporate strategies and government policies have given rise to new

types of airports far more complex and interactive in their metropolitan settings than the

isolated landing fields of the past (Conway, 1993; Güller and Güller, 2003).

The resultant changes in Australia’s aviation scene have been profound. Between 1997 and

2002 twenty-two of Australia’s major airports were privatised under a 99 year lease

arrangement with the Australian federal government. These lease arrangements, under the

Airports Act 1996, have given control of all airport development to the airport-lessee but under

an approvals systems controlled by the federal government with consultative reference to the

planning policies of state and local governments. Many of these airports have become major

business centres and are well placed to advance opportunities for broader commercial



development. In the process, airports have shifted from public good transport interchange

nodes to profit-orientated commercial ventures where aviation revenue is only part of airport

business. As a result of such changes, and with traditional environmental impacts an ongoing

issue, new challenges are being posed for both airports and the surrounding urban and regional

environment (Freestone et al., 2006).

Our intent in this paper is to consider ways of looking at the development and impact of airports

within their urban and regional context. The paper provides a review and prospectus of airport

planning issues in Australia. Canvassing some of the past literature on airport development to

convey the growing complexity of airport-city links, it discusses and illustrates some major

recent trends and interactions of Australian airports. Their changing ownership has been a

critical factor in emergent policy debates. This discussion lays the platform for considering

different conceptualisations of the ‘airport city’ phenomenon. Our proposed schema is based on

the simple but fecund concept of ‘interfaces’ with the surrounding metropolitan milieu.

Underlain by notions of sustainability, this conceptual model seeks to capture the many issues

which are generated by the modern airport within a robust framework to aid description,

understanding and research applications. Four fundamental interfaces are identified: economic

development, land use, infrastructure, and governance. These are discussed and illustrated in

turn. The paper concludes by foreshadowing a range of sustainability criteria which may

operationalise this holistic approach into an analytical tool.

AIRPORTS WITHIN THE URBAN CONTEXT 4.2

The study of airports as urban and planning phenomena has demonstrably progressed in

concert with the technological changes which have shaped the airline and airport industries for

over a century. The literature remains a specialised niche within a more prodigious stockpile of

technical investigations into airport issues, surprisingly so given the increasing

interdependence of aviation, urban and environmental issues since the 1960s. A distinct

progression over time is nonetheless evident as airports have evolved from their status as a

novel transport technology to being mired within a suite of infrastructural, economic,

management and legal issues. This evolving complexity of issues is summarily captured in the

growing sophistication of airport design and management manuals (Ashford et al., 1997; CAA,

1952; Coles, 1929; De Neufville and Odoni, 2003; Froesch and Prokosch, 1946; Horonjeff and

McKelvey, 1994; Legault, 1960; Richard, 1936; Wells and Young, 2004). The need to appreciate

a more complex set of environmental considerations in the broadest sense became evident from



the site selection and locational conflict literature of the 1970s (Haggett, 1979). A broader

management oriented literature addressed new issues of economic deregulation and

entrepreneurial approaches to airport management and policy (Kunkel 1990; Mills 1995;

Forsyth 1997; Quiggin 1997; Kissling 1998; Quinlan 1998). More recently, sustainability issues

and security have become unavoidable considerations (Charles et al., 2007; O’Malley, 2006;

Upham and Mills, 2005; Wheeler, 2005).11

CHANGES IN AIRPORT OWNERSHIP 4.3

The nature of privatisation and capitalisation of the development potential of airport lands are

now significant contemporary concerns (Carney and Mew, 2003; Freestone et al., 2006; Hooper

et al., 2000; Oum et al., 2006; Spiller, 2006). Within an increasingly globalised world economy

the ownership and management of airports has been a key factor in their transformation to

major urban activity nodes. Historically, the majority of airports worldwide have been public

sector owned and operated. In the US and Europe, after the Second World War, most major

airports were handed over to local and regional municipalities (Graham, 2003). In the 1950s

and 1960s many countries, including the United Kingdom, transferred ownership to civil

aviation authorities. During this time, regardless of ownership structure, airports were

managed as publicly owned and controlled utilities with public service obligations associated

primarily with their transport functions. Commercial and entrepreneurially-oriented financial

management had a low priority (Humphreys, 1999).

The mid-1980s saw fundamental policy changes towards ownership in several countries as

‘Thatcherism’, ‘Reaganomics’ and their multinational variants took hold. Governments faced

enormous pressure from taxpayers to control deficits. State funding for airports was out of

favour and airports were considered a ‘mature’ industry with little development potential

(Tretheway, 2001). The perceived drain on public resources motivated some national

governments to undertake a variety of strategies to minimise loss and seek a return on decades

of public investment. The United Kingdom was the first country to introduce a new national

policy of privatised airport ownership in 1987. The introduction of commercial objectives by

airport operators was considered an efficient way to maximise revenue, improve customer

service and quality standards, while reducing risk and dependence on aeronautical revenue

11 Three paragraphs have been omitted here for efficiency as they detail the academic literature in the

Australian context previously highlighted in Chapter 1.



alone (Freathy and O’Connell, 1999). Initially much of the commercialism was focussed on the

airport terminal, providing an array of shopping facilities. Subsequently the emphasis shifted to

full exploitation of the airport site and further diversification of business, even to off-airport

land development.

The narrative above was also characteristic of the Australian scene. The first significant

initiative by the federal government to divest itself of direct responsibility for civil airports was

the Aerodrome Local Ownership Plan (1958 - 1987) which transferred ownership, operating

and maintenance responsibilities of ‘local service’ airports mostly in regional Australia to local

government. The second stage was far more decisive and reflected the influence of neo-liberal

imperatives in the guise of the Hawke Labor Government’s ‘economic rationalism’ policies

(Ryan and Bramston, 2003). This involved the corporatisation of a network of national

significant airports through the Federal Airports Corporation (FAC) formed in 1988. The FAC

operated on commercial lines utilising the governance, management and incentive strategies of

the private sector.

The Airline Agreement (Termination) Act 1990 was another Hawke initiative and effectively

deregulated the Australian domestic airline industry which had been structured on a two airline

policy since the 1940s. It had a catalytic impact in making domestic air travel accessible to the

broader public (Quiggin, 1997). Consequently, significant increases in airport revenue were

generated in what amounted to a prelude to full privatisation (Graham, 2003; Hooper et al.,

2000). The new Howard Liberal Government continued Hawke’s reformism and from 1996 FAC

airports were put to tender under the provisions of the new Airports Act 1996. In a multi-stage

process completed in 2002, the government netted billions of dollars from the sale of airport

leaseholds. Despite the Asian economic crisis at the time, the price-earnings ratios for

Australian airports were high because of limited opportunities to purchase international

airports in the Asia Pacific region, the high degree of corporate autonomy bestowed, and the

significant geographic monopoly power involved (Hooper et al., 2000). Airport operators also

purchased a wide range of development rights with few restrictions on land uses other than

compliance with the Airports Act 1996. The government sales team actively marketed the

investment potential and opportunity for property development, car parking and commercial

initiatives (Freestone et al., 2006).



CURRENT PRESSURES RESHAPING THE IMPACT OF AUSTRALIAN 4.4AIRPORTS

The ebb and flow of aviation traffic lies at the heart of airport development issues. The scale of

passenger and freight movement at Australian airports has increased significantly in recent

decades, a trend likely to continue an upward projection in line with global trends despite

recent economic shocks and environmental challenges. The expected growth of passenger

traffic internationally is forecast to reach 5 billion by 2010, and surpass 9 billion passengers

annually by 2025. The highest global passenger growth of 7.9% (2005-10) is forecast for the

Asia Pacific region. The volume of global air freight is expected to outperform the passenger

market with a tripling to 214 million tonnes by 2025. The Asia Pacific region is again forecast to

grow the most, averaging 6.5% per annum (ACI 2007).

However what if anticipated aviation growth and associated airport revenues fail to occur?

Kuhlman (2005) believes that we have already witnessed the heyday of air travel, and recent

levels of travel are only due to the fact that there are still enough airline companies competing

to keep fare prices low. He argues that as these companies collapse or merge in the face of

rising operational costs, the true price of air travel will be reflected in prices affordable only for

essential and business travel, despite the rise of low cost carriers. Issues relating to greenhouse

gas emissions and climate change also loom large (Macintosh and Downie, 2007). Fuel price

volatility and the introduction of an emissions trading scheme only add to the fundamental

unsustainability of the industry (Whitelegg, 2005). Australian airports maintain they are

relatively modest producers of greenhouse gases and indeed a make distinction between the

business of aviation (and associated emissions impacts) and that of airport operation and

airport commercial development within their legislatively mandated environmental strategies

(APAM, 2008; WAC, 2004).

The dominant driver for Australian airports as business enterprises remains expansionism.

Regardless of the uncertainty, Australian airports continue to embark upon major upgrades of

aviation infrastructure (for example, Brisbane airport’s second runway, and new terminals at

Canberra and Perth airports). These projects reflect the positive projections embodied in

economic impact studies undertaken as part of the Major Development Plan process enshrined

in the Airports Act 1996. They proceed despite a wider international questioning of airport

expansion in the light of potential negative economic, environmental and social externalities

and opportunity costs for infrastructure investment (Espey and Lopez, 2000; Graham and

Guyer, 1999; Upham and Mills, 2005; Whitelegg, 2005). When considering airports as urban

developments, the associated impacts relating to regional congestion, emissions and pollution



also need to be considered. Many Australian airport corporations continue to plan and develop

on-airport non aeronautical commercial development arguing that this form of development is

necessary to maintain a reliable revenue stream through uncertain times in the aviation

industry.

The privatisation of Australian airports was primarily an opportunity to unburden the national

government from continued and intensified public sector funding of airport development, a goal

that has been spectacularly successful. However, airport operators wanting highest returns on

their investment have been quick to outline expectations for the capitalisation of their land

assets in the legislatively required master planning process. The rapid development of on-

airport land is also partly attributable to price cap regulations imposed on aeronautical charges

for the five years immediately after privatisation (Hooper et al., 2000).

Airport corporations argue that they cannot survive by handling aircraft movements alone, and

need to diversify their commercial interests to ensure continuing profitability. In Australia, the

development of airport business parks and retail complexes is a preferred commercial strategy,

land stocks and infrastructure permitting (SGS, 2003). Such development is typified by the

provision of motor vehicle dealerships, hardware and furniture stores, fast food franchises, and

direct factory outlets. Some airports are also developing supermarkets and taverns. This trend

to non-aviation uses has been perceived as a commercial challenge to economic activity in the

surrounding area; moreover, the traffic generated may place additional pressure on the regional

road network.

State, territory and local governments are ultimately responsible for making and implementing

land use planning strategies, frameworks and decisions in their jurisdictions, but in the

Australian context find their powers do not extend over airport lands which ultimately remain

federal territory. Under the Australian Constitution, this status in effect insulates them from

compliance with state planning legislation. Australian airports are considered national assets

and under the long term lease arrangements all on-airport development is assessed by the

Federal Minister of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and

Local Government in line with the provisions of the Airports Act 1996.

The capacity of airport-lessee companies to provide non-aviation uses on airport land was

tested in the courts. In 2003, Westfield Management Ltd filed a writ against the Brisbane

Airport Corporation’s (BAC) intention to develop a retail centre within the airport grounds on

the basis that such development would be in contravention of the Airports Act 1996 (FCA, 2005

p. 2). Arguments in the Federal Court centred on the land use, planning and building controls



contained in Part 5 of the Airports Act 1996 as they relate to non-aviation related development

on airport land. Westfield questioned the status of such a project under provisions for Major

Development Plans (MDP) which relate predominately to aviation specific, environmental or

airport capacity issues. All airport lessee companies in Australia closely followed this litigation

which represented a test case for the legitimacy of non-aviation airport development. The fear

that Westfield should succeed in its court action, greatly reducing the value of Australian

airports (Greenblat, 2003), ultimately proved unfounded when Federal Court Justice Cooper

dismissed the application finding in favour of BAC in February 2005. The case highlighted the

changing role of airports and reaffirmed the independence of airport lessee companies to

determine airport non-aviation land uses outside of surrounding municipal land use regulation.

Another issue of concern for airport operations worldwide is the encroachment of residential

development into approach and departure flight paths. Pressures within urban and regional

planning systems to support medium density development are adding further to the conflict

between airports and local communities (Uyeno et al., 1993). Amongst major Australian

airports the issue has been most problematic at Canberra where the airport is located close to

the border between the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the state of New South Wales

(NSW). While the growth of office and retail space promoted by privatisation has seen the

airport factored into the metropolitan spatial plan for the national capital as a mixed-use

activity centre, there is no cross-border agreement to bind local and state planning in NSW into

an airport-orientated spatial framework.

The dispute between the Village Building Company and Canberra Airport Ltd (CA) centres on a

proposed residential expansion of the town of Queanbeyan, just across the NSW border. Village

wishes to build a residential subdivision of more than 4000 homes in the new suburb of Tralee

on a site which the airport wanted to remain residential-free as part of a proposed 50 year

forecast high noise corridor published and endorsed by Airservices Australia (the government

corporation providing air navigation and airside aviation services). The developer commenced

proceedings against CA alleging that it had engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct in trade

or commerce, in contravention of s 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974. The essence of the

complaint was that CA had inflated its estimates of future noise levels with a view to inhibit

future planning approvals so as to limit possible consequential constraints upon the Airport’s

operations. The developers argued that the proposed development fell outside the published

noise contours and was therefore well within the land use planning guidelines. Canberra

Airport, with the support of Airservices Australia, counter-argued that many complaints about

noise still come from residents outside these boundaries and that the development should not



proceed (FCA, 2004 p.1). The public campaign involved full and half page advertisements

within the Canberra Times from both parties (May and Hill, 2006). In December 2008 the NSW

Government endorsed Queanbeyan's residential and economic strategy paving the way for

development at Tralee. Queanbeyan City Council can now rezone the land for residential,

commercial and recreational use.

The costly legal disputes at both Brisbane and Canberra Airports highlight the regional conflicts

associated with urban development on and surrounding Australian airports, and in particular

the fragmentation of decision-making associated with their development. They are

symptomatic of a wider set of conflicts implicating airports, councils, state governments and the

wider community nationally which have surfaced in two major public hearings on the future of

airports. In January 2007 a Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and

Transport inquiry into the Airports Act Amendment Bill and subsequently an array of over 200

submissions received in response to the exhibition of an aviation issues paper by the Federal

Government in April 2008. The Government’s determination to develop a genuine national

aviation policy for the first time takes on board not only the economic, safety, security and

environmental issues enveloping aviation globally, but also the obvious disquiet from local and

state governments and communities as to the protectiveness of the federal Airports Act 1996 to

airport interests (Australian Government, 2008).

THE NEED FOR A NEW CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 4.5

Major airports are problematic enough given their uneasy admixture of regional and national

economic benefits and localisation of environmental costs. Corporatised and privatised airports

inject even more complexity through their ambiguous reconfiguration of private and public

values and disbenefits. A better means of understanding and interpreting the perceived,

potential, and actual opportunities and impacts between Australian airports and their region is

required. In Australia, airports have shifted from ‘public good’ transport interchange nodes to

profit oriented commercial ventures where aviation revenue is now only a part of the airport

‘business’. As a result of such changes a range of issues and impacts now pose considerable

challenges for both the airport and the surrounding urban and regional environment. A new set

of interdependent factors needs to be recognised, including:

• Understanding the catchments and catalysts for industrial, commercial and residential

development within airport regions.



• Compatibility of land uses through policy and plans recognising the motivation of all

stakeholders and the needs of the broader community.

• Regional direct, indirect and catalytic economic impacts and dependence.

• Recognising and understanding expectations of immediacy and equity in the delivery of

goods, services and people.

• Managing the strategic, financial, compliance, economic and operational risks associated

with airport and regional relationships.

• Understanding the impacts and trade-offs of increasingly shared decision making

through public and private sector partnerships.

• Coordination of three tiers of local, state and federal government policy in consideration

of community needs and expectation.

Although the list of impacts and relationships beyond airport boundaries has grown more

complex as airports have augmented their historical function, research has largely continued to

remain highly specialised and contained within scripted industry paradigms with an

unswerving focus on the aeronautical function of airports (Burman, 2008; TRB, 2003). What

conceptual advances are evident regarding the changing role and now multifaceted impacts of

airports in their urban settings? Airports are increasingly recognised as key assets for cities and

regions as economic generators and catalysts of investment, in addition to being critical

components of efficient city infrastructure. The entrepreneurial idea of the modern Australian

airport goes beyond facilitating the movement of aircraft towards seizing a variety of

commercial and industrial opportunities at the hub of a wider land use zone of airport-related

development.

Capturing this new turn toward entrepreneurial urban activity centres and offering some

relevance to the Australian situation are three generic models of airport development: the

aviapolis, the airfront, and the aerotropolis. The evolution of these models is not a result of

empirical research; rather they have evolved respectively as descriptive representations from

government marketing strategies, observed industry clustering, and projection of existing

trends. These models (or variants of them) are nonetheless increasingly being embraced as

normative formulae for either airport operators or approaches to regional development. The

‘aviapolis’ is the marketing and development of aviation orientated and airport-centred

business hubs (Finavia, 2004). The ‘airfront’ is the recognition of the aggregation of aviation



related industries and services attracted to, and located immediately contiguous to an airport

(Blanton, 2004). The ‘aerotropolis’ is the identification of the airport as a trade, logistic and

passenger locus for time-sensitive urban development over an extended area (Kasarda,

1991a).12

All three descriptive models portray the modern airport as a dynamic new aviation orientated

economic engine impacting beyond the airport perimeter and calling forth the need for new and

appropriate planning responses to better seize this potential. However, they are mostly

economic conceptualisations with insufficient weight given to environmental, coordination,

community, efficiency and security and resilience issues. They only partially acknowledge the

wider urban system, neglecting the fuller reciprocity of airport and region. In the Australian

context, there is no incorporation of the impacts of on-airport non-aviation commercial and

retail development trends, complex structures of spatial governance inimical to sub-regional

planning, and insufficient weight given to long established concerns of issues such as transport

congestion, noise, and land use compatibility.

AN INTERFACE MODEL 4.6

A new framework for research and policy is required to identify and evaluate the changing role

of major Australian airports in the regional context. A greater appreciation is needed of how

airport and region must be considered as united, interdependent and integrated (Stevens,

2006). An integrative model is required which recognises and attempts to understand the

nature and importance of international, national, regional and local drivers of airport and

regional growth and the need for sustainable balanced development given new corporate,

public, and institutional governance processes.

The approach described here draws on the meta-concept of interfaces of an ‘airport metropolis’

as an organising device for comprehending and recasting the complexity and planning aspects

relating to the physical and institutional change associated with Australian airports as urban

activity centres. The airport metropolis is the synergistic coupling of core airport functions and

airport-orientated activities in a wider region. In the first instance the intention is to provide a

robust structure to assist researchers and policy makers to better apprehend airport-regional

12 Four paragraphs further detailing the models of airport development have been removed to avoid

duplication.



conflict and opportunity. Issues within identified foci may then be acknowledged through the

application of normative sustainability criteria. This will ensure a clearer interpretation of the

interactions that typify major airports, allowing for comparative analyses across a range of

airport contexts and provide frameworks for research and policy development (Figure 1).

Figure 1: The Airport Metropolis Interface Model

The model recognises four interface domains as integral to the concept of an airport metropolis:

Economic Development, Land Use, Infrastructure, and Governance. Each of these interfaces is

now discussed in turn, followed by an outline of sustainability criteria which constitute the

basis of a means for the operationalisation of the model. The development of the interface areas

and the sustainability criteria have been informed by a series of three Land Use Forums held

with Australian airport and regional stakeholders during 2008 in Adelaide, South Australia

(February); Brisbane, Queensland (August) and Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

(December).

Economic Development 4.6.1

Airports are widely acknowledged as having significant economic impacts. In Australia, all

airports undertake economic impact studies to demonstrate the virtues of strategic airport

investment in airport facilities and infrastructure; assess new commercial projects; and as

required for regulatory approvals and periodic reporting. It is increasingly important for all



stakeholders to understand the economic impacts an airport may provide as generators of

direct, indirect and induced economic activity, and as catalysts in supporting wider business

and tourism activity (Graham, 2003; Wells and Young, 2004).

In the analysis and understanding of the Australian airport metropolis it is important to

acknowledge the growing influence of perpetuity effects, which may be defined as the economic

growth from catalytic impacts that become self sustaining in an airport region (Button and

Taylor, 2000). The recognition and encouragement of these effects are central to models of

airports as urban activity centres, and in particular, when they are linked to infrastructure

investment as a catalyst for higher and specialist economic growth (Button and Taylor, 2000).

Cities with major airports play key roles as points of exchange in the global economy. With a

considerable proportion of airline passengers travelling for business, ‘a close relationship exists

between business activity on the ground and airline networks in the skies’ (Debbage and Delk

2001, p.159). This has triggered potential land use changes in favour of hotels and convention

centres on airport land and within the region, attracting international, national and local

consumers. The need to accommodate on-airport and regional commercial development driven

by aviation and air transport demand is incontrovertible. In dispute is the development, and

economic justification, of on-airport retail and commercial outlets which rely on the regional

population for patronage (Brisbane workshop, 2008).

The economic interface recognises airport and regional potential alongside other economic

anchors such as universities, hospitals, national parks, arts and cultural centres which provide

the intellectual, cultural, natural and civic assets of the region (Adams, 2003; Maurrasse, 2007).

Through strategic cooperation, economic benefits may be leveraged for both the airport and the

region by nurturing and providing for appropriate commercial development and linkages in line

with regional assets (Adelaide workshop, 2008).

When considering the economic development of the new Australian airport metropolis, there is

a need to understand the optimal relationship between airport related investment into

infrastructure, office space, commercial and retail facilities, and the surrounding region’s

present and potential economic prosperity. New models of cooperative governance need to be

clearly articulated to establish the optimal capacities and trajectories of airport and regional

investment over time (Canberra workshop, 2008).

Through the recognition of the interdependencies of the interfaces we may be better able to

determine economic activity and land uses which add more value being located at or near the



airport than elsewhere. All stakeholders need to support, recognise and understand the

importance of cooperative airport and regional economic development to foster equity and

resilience. The balance of interface dimensions also constitute counterweights by which

estimates of the socio-economic value of airport development can be most accurately assessed

(Whitelegg, 2005).

Land Use 4.6.2

An integrated approach to land use planning for the new airport may trigger economic

development and provide focus for the establishment of innovative and entrepreneurial

approaches to cooperative governance. However at present the interface divides two separate

urban planning systems.

The use of both on-airport and regional land use planning strategies are well documented as a

means of minimising and mitigating the negative externalities associated with the operation of

an airport (Button, 2003; Graham, 2003). Compatible and coordinated land use is crucial to the

discussion of airport and regional planning. While this fact is well documented, its effective

integration is exceedingly difficult to establish (AOPA, 1999; Blanton, 2004; DoT, 2002; WAGG,

2004; WSDOT, 1999). The situation is further complicated under the airport ownership

structure in Australia where local and state government input into on-airport development is

limited to consultative processes and at the same time there are few mechanisms for airport

operator input into regional development. Local and state governments may consider airport

commercial development to conflict with their strategic intentions, while airport operators may

be alarmed at incompatible regional land use trends (May and Hill, 2006). Neither stakeholder

is able to formally endorse, influence or veto the land use planning decisions of the other.

Airport master planning processes and local government land use planning processes should

overlap and recognise that the value of each is increased within a consistent and cooperative

framework (Stevens, 2006).

In Australia the separateness of airport and regional land use planning is entrenched. To date,

Queensland and Western Australia are the only two Australian states to have drafted specific

aviation state planning policies to assist local governments in planning and development near

airports. However, their scope is limited and neither demonstrates a true commitment to

providing for truly integrated airport and regional land use planning. Through consideration of

the interdependencies of the interfaces, we may uncover alternative viewpoints and provide



opportunities which may have been otherwise neglected by dependence on historical practices

(Adelaide workshop, 2008).

Cooperative land use interface planning will assist airport master planning to evolve from

isolated statements of on-airport development to visions which interconnect with broader

statements of local, city, regional and national planning intent. Similarly, state and local land

use planning can react to the opportunity that such a model of airport governance presents. For

example, urban and regional planners may begin to recast the notion of compatibility and

conceptualise air noise contours as not just limiting residential development, but providing a

strategic opportunity for other types of compatible (noise tolerant) development benefitting

from a near-airport location. This might facilitate the planning of industrial and commercial

corridors associated with the airport (Brisbane workshop, 2008).

Infrastructure 4.6.3

Infrastructure networks of all kinds determine how a city functions and how it is defined

socially, technically and politically. They do not operate in isolation and a change in one is

always reflected and reverberated through others (Graham, 2000; Graham and Marvin, 2001;

O’Connor, 1998). The airport is dependent on various utility networks (power, water,

sanitation, ICT) for its ongoing operation and at the same time is an integral part of a city,

regional and national transport infrastructure networks.

Airports require the assurance of continuity in supply chains and generic capacities to

withstand disturbance yet remain functional (Ferreira et al., 2006). Strong evidence exists

internationally that as airport related networks expand in size and interactive complexity, they

become more vulnerable to catastrophic failure which can be often triggered by small and

seemingly insignificant disturbances (Lagadec, 2004). For example, traffic incidents on key

Australian arterial roads are recognised as having a dramatic impact on access to the airport for

air passengers (Charles and Ferreira, 2006). The regional commercial strategies of airports are

also recognised as having the potential to imperil airport access as transport connections are

increasingly congested with retail and commercial traffic (MIC, 1999; SGS, 2003).

The interface evaluation of transport linkages allows for greater understanding of network wide

impacts by all stakeholders. If new and upgraded transport linkages around Australian airports

allow the movement of people and goods further and faster, this increases the airport’s

catchment. Increased capacity, in turn, may have significant socio-environmental impacts at the



local and regional levels, such as on the availability and value of land. The successful operation

of airports hinges on quality land-based regional access (Brisbane workshop, 2008). The

effective delivery of the infrastructure network requires a clear understanding of land use

activity patterns within the surrounding metropolitan region. Past attempts at modelling the

interaction between land use and transportation networks have produced data-intensive

models that are nonetheless limited in scope and interaction (Waddell et al., 2007; Badoe and

Miller, 2000). Consideration of airport and regional needs requires broad strategic options

where the interrelationships between transportation networks and land use activities are

modelled through the use of a transportation demand approach used iteratively with

appropriate economic development, land use and governance inputs (Brisbane workshop,

2008).

Changes in the intensity of land use and infrastructure may occur very quickly as a consequence

of external shocks (such as rising fuel costs), although the planning and the provision of both

occur over long time horizons. The extended planning time frame for infrastructure provision

and large investment costs pose considerable challenges for coordination strategies. These

challenges may be better understood through the interface approach to airport development

providing consistency and understanding of the issues by all stakeholders (Adelaide workshop,

2008).

Governance 4.6.4

In the interface model, governance covers all aspects of airport operations that are the result of

decision-making by both the airport operator (private) and administering authorities (public)

including airport ownership; the commercialisation and privatisation of airports; consultative

procedures and conflicts; airport and air transport security; legislation and policy; institutional

arrangements and public private partnerships. The changing governance structures impacting

airport ownership and operations are dynamic and have changed considerably in the past

decade worldwide. Oum et al., (2006) provide a comprehensive evaluation of how various

ownership forms and institutional structures affect the performance of 116 major airports

worldwide. This analysis highlights the sensitivity of airport efficiency and profitability to

governance arrangements.

Traditional planning and administration of airports is being challenged where market

mechanisms provide public goods. The role of the public has similarly evolved with these

market-based reforms from that of participant to consumer (Blanchard et al., 1998). The



interface evaluation of governance issues acknowledges that stakeholder relationships have

been recast in the wake of the commercialisation and privatisation of public infrastructure.

There has been a fundamental change in the determination of decision-making which many

stakeholders (public, private and community) do not fully recognise or appreciate (Canberra

workshop, 2008). The emergence of consortiums of diverse interests as global airport

operators presents challenges for the management of national assets – especially at the regional

and local levels (Brisbane workshop, 2008).

A larger context is required to understand the role of governance and how institutional

arrangements need to be fashioned to support the airport metropolis within the region. Carney

and Mew (2003 p.221) recognise that although governments want airport operators to bring

commercial and strategic orientation to airport management, they ‘often create regulatory and

governance structures that inhibit such an approach’. Increasingly important is the need for the

legislative logic of privatisation to align with governance models to bring efficiency and equity

into capital expenditure. That is, the operational, project and strategic management structure

and capabilities of the airport operator should match similar intents of administering legislation

and the goals of all stakeholders (Adelaide workshop, 2008).

In Australia, much conflict involving airports may be attributed to the legislative and policy

arrangements under which airports are managed. Both the private airport operators and the

local and state governments feel that the legislation could go further, albeit in different

directions, in representing their respective interests. Both want the legislation to determine the

appropriate roles of all tiers of government in relation to market discretion and the appropriate

roles for airports in relation to social responsibilities (Brisbane workshop, 2008). The

recommendations of the National Aviation Green Paper (November 2008) recognise this need

only insofar as airport area advisory panels might better unify decision-making priorities and

needs (Australian Government, 2008; QUT, 2008).

Issues of governance are fundamental in considering the changing role of Australian airports,

and in particular understanding and addressing present and future economic development, land

use and infrastructure conflicts between the airport and the region. Effective governance and

shared decision-making through consistent frameworks has the potential to ensure appropriate

administration and delivery of those aspects and values of the changing airport that are

universally shared and interdependent. The consensual mitigation of negative impacts and

promotion of positive opportunity across the interfaces is only possible through improved

governance and stakeholder relationships (Canberra workshop, 2008).



SUSTAINABILITY AND AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT 4.7

A primary goal in developing the conceptual framework of the interface model for airport

regions is to affect management and governance practices to promote a balanced and more

sustainable approach to airport development. Sustainability, although a much maligned

concept and suffering from manipulation, is beneficial in assisting with establishment of

benchmarks and indicators to move forward the normative objectives of the interface

dimensions toward operational constructs.

Each of the four substantive interface areas is underpinned by multiple considerations

impinging on the functioning and management of the Australian airport metropolis. These

considerations influence and impact on the sustainability of the entire urban agglomeration.

The interface areas provide a framework for the integration of best practice sustainability

principles that can be organised into four criteria: economic efficiency, environment,

coordination, and community (May, 2003). To these, we add a fifth, security, as a vital

consideration given the national importance and international connections of the modern

airport region. A principal aim of security at the airside interface is to prevent unlawful

activities. Here, the focus shifts regionally to the important nodes and networks of critical

infrastructure servicing and linked to the airport, which are also potential targets for crime and

terrorism (Wheeler, 2005).

Economic efficiency is conceptualised as denoting the strategically-focused innovative evolution

of economic activity that maintains and enhances a region’s international competitive

advantage in high value-adding growth and core industrial sectors and their support industries.

Environment embraces the maintenance and enhancement of physical environmental systems in

ways that permit productive use for existing and future generations.

Coordination denotes institutional evolution mechanisms that permit and facilitate necessary

changes in social structures in response to ongoing changes in global, technical and bio-physical

environments.

Community means resilient social and physical environments that maintain and create

interactive and cooperative behaviours that enhance individuals’ senses of worth, place,

community and well-being.



Security means resources and ongoing capacity to identify assess and respond to possible

emergency, crisis, and disaster events with significant potential to disrupt social, economic and

bio-physical processes in the region.

These criteria all surface in various combinations in sustainability studies. Integrated within

this framework, they better capture the multivalent nature of the interfaces and the possibilities

for grounding them in specific goals and outputs in ways which might be operationalised by

decision support system modelling (Wijnen et al., 2008).

CONCLUSION 4.8

The interface model presented in this paper draws from the Australian experience to re-

conceptualise the changing and complex role of airports in the urban environment. The model

is suggested as both a heuristic device to identify and organise key policy debates and a

potential decision-making tool for sustainable decision-making. The strength of the

conceptualisation of the issues of the airport metropolis as a series of interfaces, and the

potential application of cross-cutting sustainability criteria, lies in recognition and examination

of the relationships between, and impacts of, multiple systems. Much of the research that might

flow from the use of this model will be directed at better understanding of these systems.

The overriding imperative is to move airport planning assessment beyond the

compartmentalised analysis of issues and provide a robust solution for the acknowledgement of

the conflict and opportunities of the new ‘airport metropolis’ of the early twenty-first century.

Our approach will, at the very least, ensure a clearer appreciation, if not interpretation, of the

interdependencies that typify major airports, allowing for comparative analyses across a range

of airport contexts.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all participants at the above mentioned airport metropolis

research workshops: Adelaide, South Australia, 10th April 2008; Brisbane, Queensland, 8th July

2008 and Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 4th December



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Chapter 5: Managing airport land development under regulatory uncertainty 131


5Chapter 5: Managing airport land

development under regulatory uncertainty


Freestone, Robert., Baker, Douglas., & Stevens, Nicholas J. (2011) Managing airport land development under regulatory uncertainty. Research in Transportation Business & Management, 1(1): 101–108.

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Abstract

Airport development is an inherently risky proposition and regulation can add to

uncertainty in the business environment. The privatisation of Australian federal airports

between 1996 and 2003 mainstreamed airport development into metropolitan non-

residential property markets with all the normal commercial risks including adverse

community reaction to the new phenomenon of the airport city because of the attendant

environmental, economic and traffic impacts involved. The Australian Government's

National Aviation Review in 2008–2009 canvassed this dissent, resulting in a raft of

statutory and administrative-based recommendations. Against this backdrop, and drawing

on interviews with airport representatives and the deliberations of industry forums, this

paper explores the attitudes of airport planning and property managers to the revised

regulatory regime announced in the Government's White Paper in December 2009 .It

provides a case study of corporate response to several dimensions of uncertainty

accompanying regulatory change in the post-privatisation era.

INTRODUCTION 5.1

This paper examines managerial responses to increased risks and uncertainties caused by

shifting regulatory regimes as airports evolve towards more entrepreneurial entities. The

setting is the post-privatisation era for leased federal airports in Australia. The privatisation of

Australian airports was guided by light handed regulation to simultaneously ensure both fair

trading practices and the maintenance of public welfare obligations. A paradoxical side effect

has been for government airport policy and oversight to become increasingly intrusive and

complex as it seeks to address legislative ambiguity (Freestone, 2010). From a theoretical

standpoint, these contradictory interventions underscore the flaws of neo-liberal economic

policies at once liberating business from red tape and yet enmeshing it further in the

bureaucratic obligations and surveillance driven by the political need for public checks and

balances (Freestone, 2011). From an airport management perspective, more and more

uncertainty is associated with workaday and long-term decision-making.

Australian airports are increasingly obligated to report and detail all on-airport activity beyond

that required previously for development, regulatory approvals or operation (McArdle, 2010a).

Operators have expressed increased frustration and concern at the regulatory creep

accumulating since the late 1990s. One critic has identified a level of ‘sovereign risk’ now



significantly constraining what can be done at the airport (Nancarrow, 2010a). In the

privatisation era Australian airports are intensively monitored by federal government

instrumentalities, notably the Department of Infrastructure and Transport (interested in,

among other things, fulfilment of lease conditions), the Australian Competition and Consumer

Commission (monopoly power, service levels and car parking charges) and the Productivity

Commission (efficiency and micro-economic reform). The Productivity Commission has the

more public role and recently commenced a major enquiry on the ‘economic regulation of

airport services’ due to report in late 2011 and targeting the pricing of aeronautical and non-

aeronautical services, the traditional realm of regulatory review (Forsyth, 2003).

This paper is more directly concerned with environmental planning and development

regulations as they impact on the commercial development of airport land. Privatisation created

considerable opportunities, if not corporate obligations, to develop non aeronautical sources of

revenue. Regulation of relevant planning approvals has been quarantined from state and local

controls but has not been immune from community disquiet to non-aviation related commercial

development. In 2010 the Australian Government moved to re-regulate this latter aspect of

airport operations. This action followed a comprehensive and consultative national review

lasting nearly two years and covering many other issues including industry training and

enhanced security. The focus of this paper is on how planning problems arising at the interface

between airports and surrounding localities were addressed through this process, particularly

with respect to non-aeronautical development. The paper explores managerial perceptions of,

reactions to and engagements with a review process which was inevitably accompanied by

great uncertainty as to the eventual outcomes.

Several key sources have been utilised. A range of documentary evidence has been consulted

including government hearings and reports, corporate submissions to public inquiries, industry

forums, transcripts of parliamentary proceedings, and policy and industry literature. A series of

semi-structured interviews was also conducted between August 2009 and May 2010 with

senior executives at three Australian capital city airports. These participants requested

anonymity. Accordingly, the airport locations are not revealed and the informants are sourced

in the text as Manager 1, 2 or 3. Questions focussed on the establishment, mechanisms,

expectations and relationships associated with airport and regional land use planning and

development.

The research is divided into four main sections. The first three of these are essentially

contextual: an interpretation of the new climate for business-minded property-endowed



airports internationally (Section 2); an introduction to airport privatisation in Australia and the

planning regime instituted when the airports were leased (Section 3); and a summary of the

timeline for action under the National Aviation Policy Review 2007–09 (Section 4). Section 5

then provides an account of industry perceptions both during the review process and more

especially in its wake as the government moved to implement new regulatory requirements and

guidelines. This discussion highlights some critical sources of commercial development

uncertainty for Australian airports. The conclusion raises broader implications of the analysis.

DEVELOPMENT, REGULATION AND RISK 5.2

The modern-day airport has been transformed from a traditional mono-functional provider of

airline transport services into a multifunctional marketing enterprise. Jarach (2001) captures

this evolution, indeed ‘quantum leap’, towards the ‘airport as a firm’ as embracing an ‘enriched

service package’ of multiple products beyond core passenger and freight movements into a raft

of commercial, tourist, and logistic services. Fluctuating revenues from ground handling charges

have been a major driver for airport managers' exploration of new sources of income. The result

has been the rising dependence on non-aeronautical revenues, notably terminal retailing, car

parking, car rental concessions, hotels, conference facilities and commercial land development

(Doganis, 1992; Graham, 2009). When releasing the 2010 Airports Council International (ACI)

Economics Survey, the ACI Director General stated that “non-aeronautical revenues are a vital

component in the economics of airports”. The survey results show that through 2009 whilst

worldwide non-aeronautical revenues overall declined slightly during the Global Financial

Crisis (GFC), they were a significant buffer for airports during the downturn in passenger and

freight volumes. Even in this context, real estate development (up 10% from 2008) was the

fastest growing source of non-aeronautical revenue (ACI, 2010).

As airports worldwide have shifted from direct public ownership and control, they have

assumed a variety of different governance structures. Gillen (2011) identifies and outlines at

least seven possible types, each a different sovereign response to dealing with economic costs

and benefits, and indeed a variety of interpretations of the overarching goal of efficiency. The

outcome has been a significant fragmentation of an industry historically susceptible to political

forces (Jarach, 2005). This managerial complexity has been exacerbated by the parallel

transitioning toward multimodal service provision with airports inevitably having to confront

diverse regulatory regimes. Urban planning rules and guidelines constitute a particular set of

regime requirements which presents challenges for airport management regarding central,



municipal and local government expectations not always evident during the more traditional

era. In some jurisdictions new rules were put in place at the very time new airport ownership

arrangements were mandated (Freestone, 2010). The impact of planning requirements is felt

not only on the supply of airside infrastructure but more controversially across various landside

developments as airports move to commercialise their property assets in different ways (Lyon

& Graham, 2006). The rise of the ‘airport city’ business model has meant more potential

conflicts between airports and governments (Baker & Freestone, 2011; Güller & Güller, 2003).

Key factors in heightening or ameliorating the challenges involved include the scale of airport

operations, the regional economic setting, the commercial attitude of the airport operator, and

the supportiveness of the public decision-making environment (Peneda, 2010).

The privatisation process bestowed considerably more discretion on airports as business

enterprises. At the same time it has ushered in a far greater level of public scrutiny. Certainly in

the Australian context, this has meant additional rounds of re-regulation which have pared back

discretionary decision-making in response to community concerns about environment and

development issues (Freestone, 2011). Incrementally, as these issues have inevitably been

politicised, the trend has been towards more regulatory requirements and hence complexity. In

a generic sense, this can be contextualised as the introduction of yet another source of risk into

the airport decision-making environment on top of the extraordinary suite of risks already faced

(Merna & Al-Thani, 2008). Airports which seek to diversify income streams through commercial

development unavoidably find themselves facing uncertainty when subject to the demands and

political malleability of the planning system.

The commercial development of airport property faces particular and numerous ‘obstacles’ to

development. Jansen (2010) offers an inventory of nearly 100 separate considerations

impinging upon the decision-making of airport managers and ranging across diverse and often

conflicting domains such as aeronautical requirements; adjoining land use; legal and regulatory

requirements; environmental constraints; corporate and shareholder dictates; financial

circumstances; infrastructure and service provision; land suitability; corporate social

responsibility; project management; and community and government consultation. Regulatory

uncertainty, the subject of this paper, adds to the risk management burden. These complexities

illustrate the uncertainties of forecasting that challenge the whole master planning approach

(Kwakkel, 2008). Moreover, airport land development is subject to not only all the uncertainties

of the commercial property market but also airport-specific influences within their institutional

context. Airports have typically responded through risk-minimising mixed portfolios of ground

rental, joint venture developments and direct investment (Reiss, 2007).



THE PRIVATISATION OF AUSTRALIAN AIRPORTS AND THEIR PLANNING 5.3REGIME

The scale of privatisation of Australian airports is acknowledged as unprecedented (Graham,

2008). In 1988 the Federal Airports Corporation (FAC) was created by the Australian

(Commonwealth) Government to commercially manage twenty-two nationally significant

airports, including all major capital city airports and several regional city and metropolitan

general aviation airports. All of these federal airports were privatised in several stages between

1997 and 2003 following passage of the federal Airports Act 1996. The process involved a

competitive tendering by private sector operators for leases of 50 years with an option to renew

for a further 49 years. The offloading of major expenditure responsibility was driven by several

major considerations, including:

• avoiding large capital investments and making resources available for other public

programmes;

• increasing economic efficiency in the provision of aviation services, including

investment and pricing reforms and removal of cross subsidies between airports;

• improving managerial efficiency and flexibility to reduce costs and increase global

competitiveness; and

• removing disincentives to the deployment of new technology and working practices in

airport management and operation (TTF, 2007).

Whilst all Australian privatised airports operate under the same federally administered

statutory framework, they vary significantly in size and operations. Their major operations have

been categorised broadly here as general aviation (GA), pilot training (PT) and international,

domestic and regional regular passenger transport services (RPT). Table 1 highlights some of

the key features of size and structure of the privatised airports. Common features of all

privatised airports are their continued passenger growth and statutory master planning for the

capitalisation of land side development (Walker & Stevens, 2008).



Table 1 Federally leased airports in Australia

Airport*

Code Type Passenger movements 2009 - 2010

% Av annual

Growth 5 year from

04/05

% of Aust. total

passenger

Aircraft movements 2009 - 2010

Airport property

area (hectares)

Airport lessee company

Adelaide (South

Australia)

ADL RPT 7,015,509 5.5 5.5 72,378 785 Adelaide Airport Ltd

Alice Springs

(The Northern Territory)

ASP GA & RPT

681,295 1.0 _ 6,652 3550 Northern Territory Airports Pty Ltd

Archerfield (Brisbane,

Queensland)

YBAF GA & PT NA NA NA 142,718 259 Archerfield Airport Corporation

Pty Ltd Bankstown

(Sydney, New South Wales)

BWU GA & PT NA NA NA 367 170 313 Bankstown Airport Limited

Brisbane (Queensland)

BNE RPT 18,897,115 4.2 14.9 154,299 2700 Brisbane Airport Corporation

Camden (Sydney, NSW)

CDU GA & PT NA NA NA 46,398 194 Camden Airport Limited

Canberra (Australian

Capital Territory)

CBR RPT 3,258,396 5.6 2.6 43,324 436 Canberra Airport Pty Limited

Darwin (The Northern

Territory)

DRW RPT & GA

1,569,007 5.3 1.2 25,471 1540 Northern Territory Airports Pty Ltd

Essendon (Melbourne,

Victoria)

MEB GA & PT & RPT

20,504 1.1 _ 2,209 305 Essendon Airport Pty Ltd

Gold Coast (Queensland)

OOL RPT & GA

5,186,145 10.5 4.1 35,297 365 Queensland Airports Pty Ltd

Hobart (Tasmania)

HBA RPT & GA

1,855,849 4.0 1.5 14,380 499 Hobart International Airport Pty

Ltd Hoxton

Park (NSW)

YHOX GA – Closed 2008

NA NA NA NA 87 Hoxton Park Airport Limited

Jandakot (Perth, Western

Australia)

JAD GA & PT NA NA NA 389,466 622 Jandakot Airport Holdings Pty

Ltd Launceston (Tasmania)

LST RPT & GA

1,131,326 3.3 _ 11.905 180 Australia Pacific Airports

Corporation Melbourne (Victoria)

MEL RPT 25,917,963 5.0 20.4 187,890 2647 Australia Pacific Airports

Corporation Moorabbin

(Melbourne, Victoria)

MBW GA & PT 9,630 _ _ 625 294 Moorabbin Airport Corporation

Parafield (Adelaide)

ADZ GA & PT 437 Adelaide Airport Ltd

Perth (Western Australia)

PER RPT 9,992,583 8.9 7.9 80,853 2105 Westralia Airports Corporation

Pty Ltd Sydney (NSW)

SYD RPT 34,462,117 4.3 27.1 275,132 905 Macquarie Airports Group

Townsville (Queensland)

TSV RPT & GA

1,518,369 11

_ 24,565 937 Queensland Airports Pty Ltd

Source: Adapted from Australian Government (2010) and Walker & Stevens (2008)

*Tennant Creek & Mt Isa airports are not subject to the planning framework in the Airports Act 1996 and have therefore been excluded from this analysis. Also omitted is Hoxton Park (GA) in Sydney which closed in 2008 and has been redeveloped as a business precinct.



After a decade of privatised airports in Australia, the Tourism and Transport Forum, a major

industry lobby group, declared privatisation a major economic success with billions of dollars

invested. It describes privatised airports as economic ‘jet engines’ whose collective and

cumulative contributions to GDP make them a key sector in the national economy. Australia is

said to lead the world in the development of ‘air cities’ (TTF, 2007). The economic indicators for

Sydney Airport, the nation's largest, set the pace: over 33 million passengers and nearly

700,000 tonnes of freight per annum; direct or indirect generation of over 200,000 jobs; and a

total economic contribution to the national economy estimated at $16.5 billion, or about 2% of

the entire Australian GDP. Every Boeing 747 which lands injects an estimated $1.8 m into the

Sydney economy (Nancarrow, 2010a). From an on-airport development perspective, three

major areas of investment have become evident over the last decade: first, a generally

increasing scale of airport operations with growing traffic, the reorganisation of airlines, and the

rise of low cost carriers; second, upgrades to passenger terminals; and third, commercial land

development (Baker & Freestone, 2011; TTF, 2007). A holistic evaluation of the privatisation

experience must incorporate diverse stakeholders including the airlines and the community

(Zakrzewski, 2006). But from the airport sector standpoint, the verdict is unequivocally positive

and with good reason. Australian airports are highly attractive to investors largely because of

the liberal pricing regime in place (Colonial First State, 2010).

The Department of Infrastructure and Transport is responsible for advising the government on

the regulatory structure and policy for aviation and the airport industry. It has a raft of

oversight functions including airport planning, development and land use; insurance

compliance; environment and building control regulation; payment of Government rates and

taxes; and monitoring compliance with lease conditions (Australian Government, 2011). The

department's key performance targets with respect to regulation include maintenance of a clear

and robust regulatory framework supportive of investment in safe, efficient and

environmentally responsible aviation infrastructure.

Because airports are sited on Commonwealth land, planning and development issues are

administered under Commonwealth law. There were no formal planning requirements in the

FAC era although major development were scrutinised under federal environmental assessment

legislation. The Airports Act introduced a completely new system whose basic elements remain

substantially intact today. The key elements of the planning framework are:

• Master plans: twenty year strategic visions prepared by airports at five yearly intervals;



• Environment strategies: statements for managing environmental issues again updatable

every five years, and also requiring the concurrence and ongoing scrutiny of a separate

Minister administering the federal Environmental Protection and Biodiversity

Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999;

• Major development plans: required for any proposed work costing more than $20

million (increased from $10 m in 2007) and expected to be in conformity with master

plans; and

• Independently-appointed airport building controllers and environmental officers to

scrutinise smaller projects and manage day-today activities.

The preparation of Master Plans and Major Development Plans (MDP) provides for public

exhibition and commentary of draft plans plus Ministerial assessment and determination. The

standard consultation period for Master Plans and MDPs is 60 days with an assessment period

of 50 days.

Planning conflicts have arisen primarily because the federal leased airports operate under

federal jurisdiction independent of surrounding areas which remain under state and local

planning controls. Submissions to a 2007 Senate Standing Committee inquiry (Australian

Government, 2007) articulated various community concerns with this disjuncture including:

• Large-scale commercial developments taking place outside normal planning controls;

• Documentation requirements less than for conventional development applications;

• Lack of developer contributions for off-airport infrastructure upgrades;

• Highly flexible and use-inclusive nature of generalised airport master plans;

• Poor community consultation;

• Role of airports as both proponents and approval authorities for some developments;

• Lack of independent reviews or third party appeals; and

• Lack of urban planning expertise at the Commonwealth level.

These and related concerns surfaced through the consultative process attached to the National

Aviation Policy Review, described in the next section.



THE NATIONAL AVIATION REVIEW AND POLICY REFORM 5.4

The National Aviation Policy Review was initiated following a change in the federal government

in November 2007. Following the Westminster tradition, it progressed from an ‘Issues Paper’

(policy concerns) in April 2008 through to a ‘Green Paper’ (policy options) in December 2008 to

a ‘White Paper’ (policy directions) released in December 2009. The latter represented

Australia's first comprehensive national aviation policy (Australian Government, 2009).

Implementation from 2010 has involved a mix of non-statutory guidelines and legislative

amendments. The Review had a wide remit encompassing ten key aviation issues: safety,

security, international aviation, domestic and regional aviation, general aviation, industry skills

and productivity, consumer protection, aviation emissions and climate change, airport

infrastructure and noise impacts.

Airport planning issues of the kind canvassed in the previous section were a major focus of the

hundreds of submissions received for the Issues and Green Papers. State and local governments

complained about the lack of effective integration between federal, state and local planning

regimes, the unfair competitive advantage gained by airports conducting non-aviation based

activities over commercial rivals subject to jurisdictional planning controls, and master plans

and major development plans lacking detail when compared to the documentation

requirements for comparable developments outside airports (James & Freestone, 2009).

Confining formal consultative protocols to master plan and major development plan processes

alone (thereby missing environmental impacts from smaller scale projects) was also seen by

state and local governments as unduly limiting (Australian Government, 2010b). Overall, a

strong perception developed of airports as privileged development islands overloading local

infrastructure and prone to ignoring local and regional planning regimes. The airports disputed

many of these claims, as discussed below, and obviously did not remain passive and made

representations individually and through peak bodies such as the Australian Airports

Association (AAA), a not-for-profit organisation representing nearly 300 airports nation-wide.

Through 2009 and 2010 officers from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional

Development and Local Government involved airports in additional direct consultations.

Nevertheless, a clear mandate for regulatory reform – and tightening – was established. As the

Minister for Transport stated in Parliament, ‘Significant reforms are needed to get the balance

right between the need for ongoing investment in aviation infrastructure, community

consultation and the integration of airport planning with local, state and territory planning

regimes’ (Albanese, 2010a). The airport sector thus faced three years of uncertainty through the



duration of the review process. The crystallisation of policy reforms in the area of airport

infrastructure and planning can be tracked through the three key review papers.

The Issues Paper raised numerous questions in four main areas: land use planning and

development approvals at major airports; non aeronautical development; “safeguarding” key

airport infrastructure; and future airport needs. The Green Paper developed responses within a

series of indicative policy pathways for more detailed consideration. A philosophy of balanced

planning was espoused, with the report sprinkled with keywords like “new partnerships”,

“improved coordination”, “better integration”, and “a greater sense of shared commitment to

the development of the airport site”. The thrust was toward forging a consensus in planning

between different stakeholders (Freestone & Baker, 2010). The White Paper eventually detailed

over 130 initiatives. With respect to airport infrastructure, the key recommendations included:

• more detailed Master Plans, including ground transport plans and airport environment

strategies;

• Major Development Plan assessment to encompass proposals considered to have

significant community, economic or social impact even if under the threshold of $20 m;

• planning coordination forums for each primary capital city airport to enable airports

and governments to more effectively engage on strategic planning issues;

• community consultation groups to ensure that local communities have direct input on

airport planning matters;

• prohibition of incompatible developments unless exceptional circumstances exist; and

• an identified list of expert advisors to assist with Ministerial determinations.

To help counterbalance these more stringent requirements, other regulations were relaxed —

the necessity for Major Development Plans for high priority, low impact aviation facilities and

the length of public exhibition periods for aviation-related proposals already documented and

approved in master plans. Implementation would combine a pragmatic mix of both legislative

amendments to the Airports Act and other administrative measures such as new guidelines.

In June 2010 the Airports Amendment Bill was prepared to give effect to improved planning and

development controls for leased federal airports. The provisions of this Bill required more

detailed master plans integrating ground transport plans and airport environment strategies

and incorporating more information on non-aeronautical developments, off-airport economic



impacts, and compliance with the employment proposals of relevant state and local plans;

clauses to prevent incompatible developments, such as residential developments and schools,

on federal airport sites; and a requirement that all developments with a significant economic or

social impact on communities must go through a major development plan assessment. Some

reform measures, such as requirements for new planning coordination forums and community

consultation groups could be dealt with through administrative fiat.

The passage of the Bill through parliament was interrupted by a federal election won by the

Julia Gillard-led Labor Party but eventually passed by the House of Representatives in October

2010. The upper house of parliament, the Senate, referred the Bill to a Senate Committee on

Rural Affairs and Transport for an inquiry. The result of this inquiry and general parliamentary

debate was a series of amendments which in large measure addressed the concerns of the

airports. The amendments to the Airports Act were eventually passed in November 2010. Whilst

generally welcomed by the broader community, some sections of the aviation industry have

been critical at the apparent shift in power away from airports to their neighbours that “opens

airports up to significant interference in the development required to support the growth that

everyone knows is coming” (Nancarrow, 2010b).

AN AIRPORT INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE 5.5

Throughout the review process and into the period of implementation of new policy the

airports maintained some consistent positions on planning and land development matters.

Individually and collectively they constantly reiterated their contribution to aggregate economic

wealth and endorsed the ‘regulation lite’ regime across the board as good for both profit-driven

airports and the nation. They asserted the need to harness a range of aeronautical and non-

aeronautical revenue streams and reminded parliamentarians of the terms of their leases which

effectively encouraged commercial development activities. Various good neighbour consultative

initiatives already in place were highlighted along with the need for any policy changes to

acknowledge the diversity within the airport sector. Airport corporations remained constantly

vigilant in their representations and more than once argued that the aviation industry was

economically important enough to warrant its own dedicated federal Minister rather than have

these responsibilities within a much wider transport and infrastructure portfolio. There was

considerable support for these views from the conservative opposition side of national politics

with their parliamentarians similarly maintaining in different forums that airports were vital



pieces of infrastructure that should not be unduly hindered by excessive regulation and higher

costs.

The discussion below is divided between the National Aviation Review process proper (2008–

2009) and the ensuing development of specific regulatory reforms (2010). The airports'

position was grounded primarily in the demands of rational and competitive economic

management. Through the Review period the airports sought to reaffirm their economic

standing and desire to effectively maintain the status quo (Section 5.1). When inevitable policy

recalibration was foreshadowed, their major effort went into ensuring that new provisions

would not prove onerous. Post-White Paper the airports sought to attenuate the uncertainty

around any potential for legislative change (Section 5.2).

The Review Process 5.5.1

Corporate interests dominated submissions to both the Issues and Green Papers (James &

Freestone, 2009). The airports conveyed strong support for continued and singular

Commonwealth control over airport planning, and similarly robust opposition to what they

perceived as “moving the goalposts”, in particular, the application of untested measures such as

mooted new Ministerial “call-in” powers. Airports conceded some scope for better

intergovernmental coordination, particularly between Commonwealth and State Governments,

but outright opposed the establishment of airport planning advisory panels. They argued that

such arrangements were unnecessary when consultative mechanisms were already in place,

that such panels might be hijacked by sectional interests, and that overall they would inject yet

more uncertainty and time delays into the decision-making process.

Airports highlighted existing complications and sources of delay impacting on their decision-

making. A particular concern was the complexity caused by the concurrence requirements of

the federal Environment Planning and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 alongside the

principal Airports Act. A major theme with reference to off-airport planning was the need for

Commonwealth intervention to prevent development which could compromise safe and

efficient aircraft movements. Countering community criticism of on-airport development, the

airports sought greater coordination of land use planning by state and local authorities to

prevent residential creep setting up aircraft noise complaints and over-flight impacts, high-rise

encroachment into airspace, and orderly provision of ground transport infrastructure. Some

airports recognised a level of uncooperativeness from state agencies with which they had to

deal, underpinning general support for better consultative arrangements.



Post-White Paper 5.5.2

Reception to the White Paper, released just before Christmas 2009, was somewhat muted

across the range of stakeholder interests and marked by little discussion in the media

(Freestone & Baker, 2010). Whilst the philosophy of a more balanced planning regime was

accepted, just how that might actually work remained to be elaborated. The airports conceded

that the projected initiatives could have been way more heavy-handed but maintained deep into

2010 that aviation policy was still “very much a work in progress” (McArdle, 2010a). The

General Manager of one capital city airport expressed the general sentiments of the sector:

“There's a level of uncertainty around now that's more heightened than it has been previously,

so we need some level of certainty about the way the market's going to move for a period of

time, in terms of what you can do and what you can't” (quoted in Nancarrow, 2010a, 15).

What remained to be clarified was what reforms might be developed legislatively through

regulation versus more discretionary guidelines. Hence, through various industry forums such

as AAA, the airports took a pragmatic stance to remain vigilant through to final parliamentary

approval of any legislative reforms. Immediately from the release of the White Paper to the

passage of the amended Act, their stance was a watchful “the devil is in the detail”. This concern

threaded through five interrelated themes of uncertainty which airports sought to attenuate:

the overall trend to re-regulation; information and delay costs of compliance; regulatory ‘fine

print’; the adaptability of new regulations to diverse business settings; and countering the

perception that non-aeronautical development was somehow antithetical to an efficient modern

airport. Each is discussed in turn.

5.5.2.1 Re-regulation

The first and overall concern expressed by airports was an apparent trend to re-regulation

which was not in the spirit of the original policy commitment to a privatised airport sector. The

institutional landscape of the late 2000s seemed to them very different from that of the late

1990s.

On the one hand the role of the federal government was more interventionist with legislative

requirements becoming more demanding and complex. The AAA Chairman complained about

“regulatory myopia” and the turn to “nanny” rules (McArdle, 2010b). One senior executive

interviewed highlighted the paradox of privatisation:



The impetus ... was to get rid of the burden, let private enterprise take over and pay for

the infrastructure. Today again you have de facto federal government control through

the master plan assessment processes. It is a choke point. They intended to free up

resources and are again consuming them (Manager 1).

Far from the community perception of privileged precincts governed separately from normal

state planning controls, another executive portrayed airports as over-regulated spaces

contradictory to the goals:

You actually now have … more Commonwealth officials engaged in the management,

running, supervision and regulation of airports than you actually had in the past under

the FAC … I am not saying we need to be given free reign but if we could just go back to a

slightly less regulated format … we are [among] the most environmentally regulated

pieces of land in the country and certainly there is no other asset or piece of land that

has master planning at anywhere near this comprehensiveness, or public engagement,

or regularity of update … we are an island full of the most hamstrung, difficult, drawn

out, anti business, anti investment setup. For an economic driver you have got the worst

planning process that makes it harder to invest (Manager 2).

On the other hand, and making matters worse, was the concern that planning reforms were

headed towards appeasing and accommodating other political stakeholders who were not

exposed to the same economic stakes and risks shared by either the federal government or

particularly the airports themselves. The airports have always been concerned with volatility at

the local government level from which the Airports Act somewhat insulates them. The problem

they have within a new collaborative framework is the possible weight which might be given by

both the federal department and the Minister to negative minority submissions.

5.5.2.2 Information and delay costs

The concerns expressed above are not purely ideological but relate to a second major issue: the

costs of compliance and delay associated with a greater regulatory burden. Several

considerations intersect around this theme. One is the view that the increasing level of

information required under the new planning regime is unreasonable when the preparation of

master plans by capital city airports already costs “in excess of one million dollars in hard cash

and … staff hours” (Manager 1). Second is an unrealistic expectation of the detail which can be

provided. As one senior executive told a government inquiry, “It is difficult, probably six or



seven years out, to say what the colour and shape of a DB Schenker distribution centre are going

to look like when they have not even come to us yet to ask for it” (Woodruff, 2010). Third is the

present lack of specificity regarding the new community impact trigger for major development

plans and what sorts of development will potentially be impacted. Fourth is a longstanding

concern regarding exhibition and assessment periods longer than comparable periods under

state legislation and exacerbated by ‘stop the clock’ provisions without transparent guidelines

as more information is sought by the regulator.

All these aspects singly and collectively can put breaks on investment and development

initiatives. One airport executive outlined his perspective on the uncertainty for continued on-

airport commercial development:

I think it goes back to taking away the rights we were sold. I think it is bad for our

business because it takes away opportunity, and I also think it is bad for the community

because it reduces our economic role. The things that would otherwise naturally be

attracted to locate here are forced to go elsewhere and they then have, for their business

and operations, a lower quality or operational outcome (Manager 2).

From the airports' viewpoint, compliance costs can place them at a competitive disadvantage

relative to off-airport developers. Critical time spent in the approval pipeline can result in

commercial tenants being lost. The legitimate concern is that regulatory delays may impact

adversely on private investment decisions when compared to more certain timelines under

state legislation. The critical issue for airport land development is thus not necessarily either

noise or airport operations but timeliness of action relative to competitors.

5.5.2.3 The statutory fine print

Related to this sort of micro-regulatory uncertainty through 2010 was a perceived ambiguity in

the definition of critical terms and hence the scope of government interference. This came to the

fore in the wording of certain clauses in the Airports Amendment Bill 2010. The airports found

an ally in a government inquiry among Opposition Liberal/National Party Senators who

regarded some proposed legislative changes as hostile to market competiveness. Said one of

their number at the Senate hearing into the amendments: “This has been written up by a

bureaucrat behind a desk with no practical experience who is stifling investment and is going to

get everyone tongue-tied over the legislation by trying to be that prescriptive” (McGauran,

2010).



The AAA variously argued that ill-defined terminology would undermine the confidence of both

the community and the airports; that many minor and maintenance projects could conceivably

require major development plans; that unreasonable restraints would be placed on certain land

uses (notably through the vague definition of an “aviation educational facility”); and that

ambiguity would enhance the discretionary power of the Minister. Again, the bottom line was

economic and the fear that a lack of clarity would mean greater uncertainty and increased costs

for airports. Most of these terminological fears were resolved with minor changes to the

wording of the amended Act prior to finalisation.

5.5.2.4 Diversity of airports

A fourth and constant reminder to legislators was the importance of recognising the diversity of

the airport sector. A frequent refrain was that “it's not a one size fits all” (Manager 3) and that

policy must be sensitive to different types and scales of airports. This applied to the capital city

and regional airports but was most frequently invoked with the six federally leased general

aviation (GA) and pilot training airports in metropolitan areas: Archerfield (in Brisbane);

Essendon and Moorabbin (Melbourne); Jandakot (Perth); Parafield (Adelaide) and Bankstown

(Sydney). Some of these airports face a more competitive environment than the majors and are

much more sensitive to pricing variations. The provisions of the Airports Act mean that they face

the same compliance requirements for master plans and major development plans. Heavy

preparation costs are more easily absorbed by larger airports whilst the costs of delay can be

magnified for the GA airports. The Senate Inquiry was told that the proposed amendments to

the Act would increase the cost of running GA airports without increasing the revenue capability

and that this would not be sustainable in the longer term. The modest and uncertain return

from landing charges from light aircraft and charter businesses for GA airports has been a major

impetus for their turn to non-aeronautical commercial enterprises. Essendon Airport is one of

the most innovative airports with office buildings, a supermarket, a factory retail outlet,

automotive showrooms, a call centre, and even a whisky distillery.

5.5.2.5 Non-aeronautical development

As vital as non-aeronautical development may be for GA airports, some within the industry

identify a negative stance on the part of the federal government. “There is this covert unspoken

agenda that really non-aviation development could be on the nose, could be not approved, so



the uncertainty is you don't really know” (Manager 2). The Government's stance was captured

by the Minister for Transport in the debate in the House of Representatives in November 2010

which confirmed the passage of the Airports Amendment Act:

The fact is that when the previous government leased the airports they did not get the

planning system around the airports right. That is why we have around Australia at a

number of airports non-aeronautical developments which have been prioritised above

aviation activity. That has occurred at capital city airports and it has occurred at

regional airports. Those airport owners have received a windfall gain from the leasing of

the airports in order to engage in other commercial activity. The fact is that this

government put in place a system that has ensured that it is not brickworks that are

prioritised at airports; it is aviation activity (Albanese, 2010b).

The airports have had to battle this scepticism if not opposition throughout. The AAA has

maintained that as expensive and immobile infrastructure within a hyper-mobile industry,

airports need “other activities to balance our exposure to airline operational risk” (Nancarrow,

2010a). Their business models are predicated on a balanced portfolio which is unsettled by

community, media and governmental circumspection with non-aviation activity. “Those two

returns−the aeronautical returns and the non-aeronautical returns – lead to a balanced

investment return which gives our investors comfort and certainty that they can invest and

make a return on that investment”, according to one operator (Woodruff, 2010) who went onto

tell the inquiry into the Airports Act amendments: “We have to look at things as a whole, and I

think it is dangerous to isolate particular investments and say, ‘You can't do that but you can do

that, because it then leads to an imbalance in returns.”

The anti-commercial development stance not only flies in the face of a global transformation in

the nature of the airport (Jarach, 2001, 2005), it runs counter to the expectations embedded in

the original acquisition of leaseholds with their prospects of significant future commercial

development highlighted in the original marketing campaigns. The sales team at that time

emphasised the potential for increased revenue outside the cap on aeronautical products from

property development, car parking and other commercial initiatives (Freestone, Williams, &

Bowden, 2006; Hooper, Cain, &White, 2000). One manager recalls:

There were plenty of [promises]. Like any sales process where a seller is trying to

maximise their profit they don't only have public officials involved, they have merchant

bankers whose specialist role is to pump up the volume, and the opportunity. There

were brochures, there were presentations, there was articulation about the flexibility,



the development opportunities, both aviation and non-aviation. All of these things quite

properly, and not at all improperly, marketed by the vendor. Their strategy was about

maximising the price, as it ought to be (Manager 2).

The implication is thus another source of uncertainty for airport managers. This was stated in

no uncertain terms by one of our respondents who identified ‘dishonesty’ between the balanced

philosophy of the White Paper with respect to aeronautical and non-aeronautical development

and the hyper-scrutiny faced by actual projects in practice:

The White Paper says you can do it all, yet there is this hidden agenda that really I think

goes back to the fact it is taking away the rights we were sold.... if the government

doesn't want us to do non-aviation development any more they should say it is banned

and they should compensate us for stealing the property rights that they sold us

(Manager 2).

CONCLUSION 5.6

The airport business is inherently risky (Graham, 2008). Globally, airports have had to confront

a succession of external shocks: terrorism, adverse weather events, and the Global Financial

Crisis. Regulation adds to uncertainty. This paper has documented how a major regulatory

review in Australia added to the uncertainty for privatised airport decision-making within the

bespoke area of planning and development approvals. The National Aviation Policy Review

reaffirmed Commonwealth control of major airports and hence the core legislative matrix of the

Airports Act originally passed in 1996. The federal government's firm resolve to seek a better

alignment between on and off-airport planning was legislated.

The airport sector through its economic strength and lobbying efforts nevertheless made

decisive inputs into shaping the eventual national aviation policy. A certain temerity in the

White Paper can be seen as evidence of the government listening to airports and not advancing

radical strategies in the interests of striking a better balance between the various political,

community and private sector stakeholds. As the Government moved to implement major

recommendations through 2010, it also rejected two options that would have meant a tighter

rein on airports. One was requiring all changes to be gazetted through statutory changes;

another suggested accrediting state and territory government planning laws to apply to airports

through negotiated bilateral agreements. Both ideas were rejected as involving onerous

administration and compliance costs for airports. Regardless, airports know how have to adjust



yet again to new layering of regulatory realities. The prognosis from 2011 onwards is of airports

having to “deal with the issues and challenges …[in] … an even more constrained regulatory

environment” (Nancarrow, 2010b).

Several broader implications of this study for other privatised jurisdictions as they mature can

be noted. One – and this is the paradox of privatisation as a neo-liberal reform – is the seemingly

inevitable growing complexity of airport management and development regulation required to

address new and unforeseen circumstances (Freestone, 2011).Whilst the ties may well have

“progressively loosened” between airports and government (Doganis, 1992, xii), they have

certainly not evaporated. Two, is the accompanying extra resourcing of the planning function

required. As one airport executive put it, “we all recognise that a master plan isn't a two-year

project anymore, it's just ongoing” (Manager 3). Third, is the recognition that corporate and

political imperatives will not necessarily align. This is well illustrated in the Australian case by a

clear resistance at the national level to recognise the evolution of airports toward multi-nodal,

multi-functional hubs (Jarach, 2005). Airports will need to be well organised and ever-vigilant

in clearly communicating industry needs and trends to political decision-makers. Fourth, and

most importantly, is the greater commitment expected to cooperative, indeed collaborative, off-

airport planning, a move that sits well with the direction of both modern urban planning

practice (Healey, 1997) and the new creed of corporate social responsibility (Kotler & Lee,

2005).

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the assistance in data gathering of John McArdle, Chairman of the Australian

Airports Association (AAA), and Alan Revell, Director of Property for Northern Territory

Airports. Without direct attribution, the paper has benefited from attendance at a meeting of

AAA members with representatives of the Department of Infrastructure and Transport at

Canberra Airport in February 2010, and the Australasian Airports Real Estate Conference at

Darwin Airport in August 2010. The paper also draws on an interview with Phil McConnell and

Charles Li Petta at Moorrabin Airport in February 2010. The constructive commentaries of two

anonymous referees have also shaped the final version of this paper. Research support was

provided by the ARC Linkage Grant project, The Airport Metropolis (LP0775225). The views

expressed are not necessarily those of the partners or the other persons named here.



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theoretical-assessment-tool/ Issue 34.

Chapter 6: Land use conflict across the airport fence 155


6Chapter 6: Land use conflict across the

airport fence: competing urban policy,

planning and priority in Australia

Table 12 Statement of authorship

Stevens, Nicholas J. & Baker, Douglas. (2011) Land use conflict across the airport fence: competing urban policy, planning and priority in Australia. Urban Policy and Research (submitted).

Contributor Statement of contribution Mr Nicholas Stevens Signature:

Acquisition of data Data analysis Development of the article structure Drafting of the manuscript Conception and design Critical revision for important intellectual content Copyediting - grammatical assistance, stylistic suggestions to outline or draft Production assistance, e.g., assembling tables, graphs, figures, photos or other illustrations


Development of the article structure Copyediting - grammatical assistance, stylistic suggestions to outline or draft Supervision


Prof. Douglas Baker

April 24, 2012

Name Signature Date .



Abstract

Land use planning within and surrounding privatized Australian capital city airports is a

fragmented process as a result of: current legislative and policy frameworks; competing

stakeholder priorities and interests; and inadequate coordination and disjointed decision-

making. Three Australian case studies are examined to detail the context of airport and

regional land use planning. Stakeholder Land Use Forums within each case study have

served to inform the procedural dynamics and relationships between airport and regional

land use decision-making. This paper identifies significant themes and stakeholder

perspectives regarding on-airport development and broader urban land use policy and

planning. First, it examines the concept of airport and regional ‘interfaces’ and the primary

issues that differentiate on-airport land use planning from planning within the

surrounding region. Secondly, it details the results of the Land Use Forums identifying key

themes within the shared and reciprocal interfaces of governance, environment, economic

development and infrastructure. The paper concludes by discussing the relationships

between the interfaces and the core issues contributing to the fragmentation of airport

and regional land use planning policy.

Keywords: Australia, airport privatization, interfaces, land use planning, land use policy.

INTRODUCTION 6.1

The privatization of Australian airports was primarily an opportunity to unburden the nation

from public sector funding of airport development. Between 1996 and 2003 twenty-two

Australian airports, operated by the Federal Airports Corporation (FAC) were put to tender in a

two-phase process. They have been leased individually on 50 year terms with an option for a

further 49 years (Hooper et al. 2000).

Since their privatization, Australian capital city airports have emerged as significant sub-

regional commercial centers creating their own land use regimes within a policy framework of

Commonwealth consent (Freestone et al. 2006; Freestone 2011). While retaining their primary

role as critical aviation interchanges, they have also developed a range of profitable terminal

and landside retail, commercial and industrial businesses. This changing role of the airport, both

in Australia and abroad, has been identified as the development of an ‘aerotropolis’, ‘airport city’

or ‘airport metropolis’ (Freestone & Baker 2011; Güller & Güller 2003; Kasarda 1996; 2001;

Stevens et al. 2010). These models of on-airport planning focus on the encouragement of



aviation related industry, yet also provide for retail and commercial services that have limited

dependence on air transport or aviation. In the Australian context these changes in airport land

use have been a cause for regional concern. They have evolved in a legislative and policy

framework outside of state and local government control and at a pace which regional planning

practitioners are not familiar (Walker & Stevens 2008).

This research paper documents the results of a series of Land Use Forums attended by over 120

airport and regional stakeholders and decision-makers in relation to the reciprocal impacts of

airport and regional land use planning. The paper highlights many of the issues at the core of

airport and regional agreement and disputation and builds on the conceptual framework of

airport metropolis ‘interfaces’ (Stevens et al. 2010).

First, the paper will outline the concept of ‘interfaces’ and their significant for this research

effort. It will then briefly detail the policy context under which privatized on-airport

development occurs and examines the land use planning aspects of the 2008 Australian

National Aviation Policy Review. The paper will then present three case study regions

(Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra) in addition to detailing the research approach of Land Use

Forums. The means by which the interfaces are operationalized is outlined, as is the use of

thematic extraction on the resultant qualitative data. The findings and analysis will present each

interface domain in turn, identifying the key themes and stakeholder perspectives common to

all of the case studies. The paper will then discuss the relationships between the interfaces and

the central themes which continue to contribute to the fragmentation of airport and regional

land use planning policy.

AIRPORT METROPOLIS INTERFACES 6.2

The conceptual model of the interfaces is ‘an organising device for comprehending the

complexity and planning aspects relating to the physical and institutional change associated

with Australian airports as urban activity centres’ (Stevens et al. 2010 p 280). The framework

considers that there are four interdependent interface domains that impact the development of

the airport and the region: governance, economic development, infrastructure and land use

planning (Figure 1).



Figure 1 The airport metropolis interface model (Stevens et al. 2010 p 280)

A key objective of this research is to apply the ‘interfaces’ as a robust structure to conceptualize

and assist in the interpretation of airport and regional planning and development. Within this

context land use planning practice and policy relationships will be placed as the central focus in

consideration of the three interface areas of governance, economic development and

infrastructure. Additionally ‘environment’ will be included for the analysis and evaluation of

biophysical and social impacts (Table 1).

Table 1. Airport Metropolis Interface Domains

Land use – Airport and regional statutory and strategic land use planning needs to be recognised in view of the issues that arise from the growth of airports as regional and national activity centres. An integrated approach may provide focus for the establishment of innovative and entrepreneurial approaches to cooperative development. At present the interface divides separate airport and regional planning systems (Stevens et al. 2010).

Governance covers all formal and informal aspects of airport and regional decision-making by both the airport operator and regional administering authorities. Including for example: commercialization of airports; consultative procedures; legislation and policy; and institutional arrangements (Stevens et al. 2010).

Infrastructure acknowledges the variety of physical networks required for the effective and efficient performance of the airport and the region (Stevens et al. 2010). In the context of this research there is primarily a focus on transport infrastructures.

Economic development denotes the evolution of direct, indirect and induced economic activity that is intended to maintain and enhance airport and regional competitive advantage. (Stevens et al. 2010).

Environment embraces the protection and improvement of biophysical and social environmental systems. Including for example: noise; water and air quality; flora and fauna; waste management; cultural heritage; demographic change; social infrastructures and services; and equality in decision making processes.



FRACTURED POLICY 6.3

Compatible, coordinated and integrated land use is crucial to the discussion of airport and

regional planning; however in-practice implementation has proven difficult to establish

(Blanton 2004; DoT 2002; Graham 2008). In Australia, airport and regional land use planning

has been restricted under the present airport policy structure. Airport master planning and

development control fall under Commonwealth legislation, primarily the Airports Act 1996. This

federal government administered legislation also sets out the responsibilities and objects of

airport development, regulation, ownership and obligations of airport-lessee companies. Local

and state government control of on-airport development is prohibited and limited largely to

consultative processes. Section 112 of the Airports Act 1996 specifically excludes state and local

government law from applying in relation to land use planning and building activities. This has

led to claims that airport non-aviation commercial and retail development is impacting on the

viability of urban center retailing through the diversion of expenditure, often away from

intended centers of employment and commerce (FCA 2005). Conversely, few mechanisms exist

for airport input into regional planning and development around airports. Airport operators are

often alarmed by land use planning for consolidated and greenfield residential development

under flight paths and proposed high-rise airspace interference (FCA 2004). Current local, state,

territory and commonwealth legislative frameworks allow limited provisions for these mutually

dependent stakeholders to endorse, influence or veto land use planning decisions of the other

(Stevens et al. 2010).

NATIONAL AVIATION POLICY REVIEW 6.4

In April 2008, the Australian Government initiated a National Aviation Policy Review which

sought to assist the better integration of privatized airports within the region. At this time, an

‘Issues Paper’ was released for public comment, followed by a ‘Green Paper’ outlining

preliminary proposals (December 2008) and a National Aviation Policy White Paper: Flight Path

to the Future (White Paper) with proposed policy reforms (December 2009). The review

covered many issues pertaining to aviation in Australia: safety, security, international aviation,

domestic and regional aviation, general aviation, industry skills and productivity, airport

infrastructure and noise impacts (Australian Government 2008). Airport and regional land use

planning challenges were highlighted under ‘airport infrastructure’.

Following the Green Paper the Australian Government released a discussion paper ‘Safeguards

for airports and the communities around them’ in July 2009. This discussion paper was to initiate



‘A clear and coordinated national framework for land use planning and development controls’

(DITRDLG 2009a p 166). The intention was for the Australian Government to work in

partnership with state, territory and local planning systems on a national technical rule book for

off-airport development to assist in the protection of airspace and to protect the community

from operational and catastrophic aviation impacts. Currently in lieu of this framework being

advanced the Australian Department of Infrastructure and Transport (the Department) is now

making formal submissions, on behalf of airports, to regional projects deemed to have the

potential to impact the aviation function of the airport.


reporting requirements and planning guidelines for airports. As of December 2010 all new

airport master plans must also detail ‘surface vehicle access plans with measures to mitigate

vehicle and traffic impacts’ (DITRDLG 2011, p 1). Additionally, in January 2011, the Department

released a discussion draft ‘Significant Impact on the Local or Regional Community Guide’

(DITRDLG 2011). This guide is intended to provide information to both the public and industry

stakeholders about whether a proposed on-airport development ‘triggers the significant impact

on the local or regional community clause, which is s89(1)(na) of the Airports Act 1996’ (DITRDLG

2011, p 2).

While the Department and the White Paper provide ad hoc submissions and guidelines which

seek to achieve better planning and integrated development, there remains limited direction on

land use coordination between stakeholders (Freestone & Baker 2010). For this research the

use of three case studies will assist in the identification of key themes within ‘in practice’ airport

and regional land use planning and development.

AIRPORT AND REGIONAL CASE STUDIES 6.5

Brisbane, Queensland; Adelaide, South Australia; and Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

were selected as case study regions. Each presents: significant variance in their airport and

regional administrative regimes; acknowledged regional land use planning conflict; and

capacity for further on-airport non-aviation land use development. While the individual case

studies are recognized as significantly different in local context, all share common airport and

regional land use planning opportunities and challenges.



Brisbane, Queensland 6.5.1

Brisbane Airport is Australia’s third-largest airport in terms of passenger movements, where

18.9 million passengers passed through in 2009–10 (DITRDLG 2011b). Brisbane Airport

Corporation (BAC) administers and manages a 2400ha airport site 12 km to the north east of

the Brisbane central business district. Brisbane City Council is the sole local government

administration which adjoins the airport site and the most directly impacted by the airports

operation. The Queensland state government also plays an important role in regional land use

planning and administration through the provision of aviation orientated state planning policy

and the South East Queensland Regional Plan 2009 – 2031.

Adelaide, South Australia 6.5.2

Adelaide Airport is Australia’s fifth-largest airport in terms of total passenger movements,

where 7.02 million passengers passed through in 2009–10 (DITRDLG 2011b). The airport site is

785ha and located approximately 6 km west of the Adelaide central business district, and is

administered and managed by Adelaide Airport Limited (AAL). Four local government areas

surround the airport and are directly affected by the operation of the airport. Adelaide airport is

within the boundary of the City of West Torrens, while the cities of Holdfast Bay, Adelaide and

Charles Sturt are adjacent to the airport. The South Australian state government plays an

important role in planning for Adelaide through The 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide.

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 6.5.3

Canberra Airport had a total of 3.26 million passenger movements in 2009–10 (DITRDLG,

2011b). The airport site is 436ha and located 6 km from the Canberra central business district

and is administered and managed by Capital Airport Group (CAG). The administrative context

for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is unique in that there is no ‘state’ government or

lower house ‘local’ government - it is a federally administered territory government. Many of

the planning approvals for the ACT are managed by the ACT Planning and Land Authority. In

addition, the National Capital Authority has planning and approval powers in ‘those areas of

continuing interest in the strategic planning, promotion, development and enhancement of

Canberra as the National Capital’ (NCA 2010 p 7). The airport is adjacent to the state of New

South Wales (NSW) and two local government areas within NSW, Queanbeyan and Palerang are

subject to noise impacts from the operation of Canberra Airport.



RESEARCH APPROACH - LAND USE FORUMS 6.6

The literature has established the shift in airport management and highlighted airport and

regional land use conflict (Freestone et al. 2006; Hooper et al. 2000; May & Hill 2006; Spiller

2006) However there was limited academic attention in identifying the key issues faced by

stakeholders. The purpose of the Land Use Forums was fourfold: i) to identify stakeholders; ii)

identify the range of views and policy positions; iii) identify key issues, challenges and

opportunities; and iv) further foster interaction and relationships with stakeholders.

Beginning in 2008, a Forum was held within each of the three case study regions: Adelaide, April

2008; Brisbane, August 2008; and Canberra, December 2008. Collectively, these Forums were

attended by over 120 representatives from airports, airport industries, academia, business

representatives, government stakeholders, senior policy analysts, and urban planners (Table 2).

The Forums provided, for the first time, an open and facilitated means for bringing together

airport and regional land use planning stakeholders and decision-makers – many of who are

often suspicious and, in some cases, litigious with one another.

Table 2 Total Land Use Forum Attendees

Stakeholder Type Areas of Interest

Land-use decision-making powers and focus13

Attendees Total

Bris

bane

Adel

aide

Canb

erra

State and territory governments (including departmental representatives)

State and regional strategic planning

Active Regional 10 4 12 26

Academia Research and policy

Passive Airport and Regional

11 4 8 23

Airport lessees companies

On-airport planning and development

Active Airport 12 5 5 22

Aviation and regional infrastructure and service providers

Infrastructure support services to the airport and region

Passive and Active

Airport and Regional

2 5 8 15

13 ‘Active’ and /or ‘passive’ refers here to the stakeholder ability to direct land use planning decision-

making within their jurisdiction.



Local government (including departmental representatives)

Local land use planning

Active Regional 6 7 1 14

Australian Government (including departmental representatives)

Airport regulatory authority

Active Airport and Regional

1 1 5 7

Consultancy Airport and regional land use and infrastructure planning


2 2 5 9

Industry advocacy Industry voice and government lobbying


2 1 1 4

Political (Member of Parliament)

Community representation


1 1

Total 46 30 45 121

In a timely and noteworthy concurrence the National Aviation Policy Review was announced

just after the program of case study Forums were established – adding both significance and

value to the research. Much of the government and media focus was on the relationships

between airport lessees and adjacent local, state and territory government stakeholders. For

this research it was also important to recognize and engage the range of the other significant

stakeholder cohorts. The Forums sought to include and incorporate the views of: aviation

service providers; freight management and infrastructure corporations; tourism board and

council representatives; chambers of business and commerce; members of the emergency

services; engineering and airport master plan consultants; energy and telecommunications

infrastructure providers and both private and public transportation infrastructure providers.

The Forums did not endeavour to incorporate the views of the greater public, but focussed on

first establishing the views of academia, industry and government.

METHODS 6.7

A workshop and seminar approach was used at each of the three Forums (Jolles 2001). Each

commenced by outlining the intentions and expectations of the current research framework. A



number of case study stakeholders then presented their views on airport and regional land use

planning and development. Breakout sessions were conducted in four round table groups of up

to twelve participants. These sessions examined airport and regional land use planning and

policy relationships in consideration of three key interface areas: governance, infrastructure,

and economic development, while a fourth group considered land use and environment. In

placing land use as the central issue these round table discussions provided focused, yet distinct

evaluations of airport and regional land use planning. The use of interfaces provided a clear

structure for the Forums and also established a valuable framework for data analysis.

The results of the round table sessions were recorded and collated, with the data then

undergoing inductive thematic analysis. Broadly, thematic analysis is a qualitative method

where by coding and analyzing a data set, themes are identified (Boyatzis 1998; Fereday &

Muir-Cochrane 2006). It is important to acknowledge that themes do not ‘emerge’ from the

data, but that the researcher is indeed active in the process having either outlined specific

questions or in this case a framework around which the data has been collected. Here the

thematic analyses may be described as data driven as the coding was not undertaken to identify

particular features of the data set. Braun and Clarke (2006) highlight that ‘A theme captures

something important about the data in relation to the research question, and represents some

level of patterned response or meaning within the data set’ (p 82).

Transcripts of the workshops were generated from recordings taken at each round table

discussions: land use/governance; land use/infrastructure; land use/economic development

and land use/environment. For analysis the same sets of round table data from each of the case

studies were considered together – for example all of the land use / governance transcripts

from each of case studies were viewed as one data set for interpretation and coding. An initial

list of codes was then produced by reading the transcribed data, identifying the semantic

features.

Working across the data, all stakeholder views were identified and coded. These codes were

then reviewed, identifying similarities and allowing for the generation of an initial list of themes.

These themes were then reconsidered to ensure that they adequately captured the coded data,

and were then further examined against the entire data set. This established if they indeed

articulate an accurate representation of the stakeholder agreement or disputation across the

three case studies. While the broader themes were now representative of the coded data and

entire data set, further analysis was required to generate clear and specific definitions of each

theme.



FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS: COMMON STAKEHOLDER THEMES 6.8

The results of the Forum series provided a rich resource of stakeholder vision, insight and

attitude to airport and regional land use planning. The thematic analysis of the collective

workshop data has assisted in identifying common themes of stakeholder agreement and

ongoing stakeholder disenchantment. There are several areas where mutual recognition of

problems was identified, but the path to resolution remains uncertain when considering

divisive stakeholder perspectives. The following analysis will present each interface area in

turn, identifying the key themes and stakeholder perspectives common within all of the case

studies. It is of course not possible to include all coded responses within this paper, however

where appropriate, extracts have been included which reflect the sentiment and responses for a

stakeholder group in reference to a key theme.

Governance 6.8.1

Governance frameworks are seemingly at the core of the discourse relating to coordinated and

cooperative land use in Australia (Donnet et al. 2008). In fact, stakeholder relationships have

been recast in the wake of commercialization and privatization of public airport infrastructure

(Freestone et al. 2006). There has been a fundamental change in the determination of decision-

making which many stakeholders (public, private and community) do not fully recognize or

appreciate (Peck et al. 2009). Two key themes have been identified from the analysis of

governance and land use planning: legislation limits consultation and divergent planning

processes and priority.

6.8.1.1 Legislation limits consultation

Across the case studies airport lessees and government stakeholders acknowledge that the key

to integrated airport and regional decision-making relies on consultative processes established

in good faith. Importantly they also recognize that this has only recently begun to emerge and

has been nurtured largely through informal communicative networks outside of statutory

consultation processes. Stakeholders across the case studies agree that if they are to achieve

higher degrees of cooperation that clear, direct and regular lines of communication (both formal

and informal) need to be established across all areas of the airport business and all tiers of

government. Separately two state and territory government representatives outlined their

perspectives on the consultative requirements for integration:



“We need more effective stakeholder input into the airport and it needs to be a two way

street.”

“From a land use planning perspective you need integration, cooperation and,

coordination. It is critical, and what you don’t have in around --------- airport, is a clear

understanding or commitment for the way forward.”

State, territory and local government stakeholders in each of the case studies questioned the

lack of Commonwealth consultation during the privatization process. The lack of detail

transferred to the Australian public and urban and regional decision-makers has raised

persistent issues about transparency and partiality of both the process and the ongoing

federally administered on-airport planning approvals process. One senior local government

representative highlighted that: “From the outset the privatization process wasn’t transparent

and the ongoing approvals processes by the Commonwealth continue to be ambiguous”. In each

case study, there was regional stakeholder anxiety around what may be perceived as the

privatization of public interest decision-making. A state government manager highlighted their

concern: “Do we understand the implications of a private entity making public interest decisions –

but with profit-driven motives”.

6.8.1.2 Divergent planning processes and priority

All case study stakeholders appreciate that the processes required for compatible and

integrated airport and regional land use planning remain multifaceted and complex. Regional

stakeholders concede that the on-airport arrangements for planning and development, under

the Airports Act, will continue to have important latent and explicit impacts for urban and

regional development, across three tiers of Australian government. Specifically impacts include:

the development of commercial and retail ‘centers’ on airport land; and the pace at which this

development has been facilitated by federal government approval processes. A local

government representative believes: “the airport is developing at its own pace; it has nothing to

do with city development”. While a State government planner in the same region highlighted:

“There is tension between urban development, urban context, and the airports across Australia”.

Airport lessees in all of the case studies appreciate that on-airport and aviation planning is in

the national interest and appropriately the approval processes must continue to be the

responsibility of the federal government. They agree that the limited level of local, state and

territory government influence on airport planning should remain. Airport corporations will



vigorously oppose any regional interference or further federal oversight when it comes to the

development of their landside assets. An airport lessee executive explains:

“Our company, as did the other airport lessee companies paid a lot of money for long term

leases of the airports, 10 or 11 years ago. We paid that price based on a certain set of rules.

The rules have changed over time, and they could change again, well then there might be

compensation issues”.

Airport lessees are also deeply concerned about the explicit impacts of local and regional

planning curtailing the aviation function of their assets. In each of the case studies they

recognize that urban and regional policy has in the past, and continues to, see airport regions

become increasingly populated through urban consolidation and greenfield development. One

airport executive recognizes only regional responsibility: “the airport expansion is a great

opportunity for ---------, but it can only happen if we get the regional land use planning right - so

we don’t put people in the wrong spots”. While another is happy to concede there are two

contributing factors: “regional urban development and increasing airline traffic together create

the problem”.

Some state government representatives consider that cooperative airport and regional spatial

planning may support better land use integration: “a recurring theme is cross-border

coordination, there is a need for sub-regional planning strategies” and additionally that: “I think

the master plan needs to be done not only for the airport but also for the 10km radius that

surrounds the airport”.

While many issues relating to governance and land use planning continue to indicate

stakeholder difference, propitious aspects are increasingly apparent. Regional stakeholders

considered that the airport master planning process is becoming more sophisticated through

acknowledgment of urban policy. Additionally airport consultative processes are recognized as

increasingly inclusive and as occurring beyond statutory requirements. Airport operators

recognize that an increased communicative effort is required if they are to gain community

support, one senior executive explains:

“It is a responsibility of us, today’s custodians of the airport, to bring the community with

us. We need to listen, we need to hear about the land use issues, and we need to do all of

that together as a community. Because if we don’t, the community will bear one side of the

debate and the airport will be on the other”.



Stakeholders acknowledge that after more than a decade, some relationships are moving

beyond conflict toward increased consultation. While this is established as occurring across all

case studies, a variety of structures are currently used to manage consultations both with

government and the wider community. This variance regarding community consultation has

been acknowledged by the Australian Government through the delivery of ‘Guidelines for

Community Aviation Consultation Groups’. These guidelines ‘are a mechanism to ensure

appropriate community engagement on airport planning and operations’ (DITRDLG 2011a p 2).

Environment 6.8.2

It is clear that the changing role of airports in Australia will ultimately involve their continued

expansion as both aviation transport hubs and retail and commercial destinations (AAL 2009;

BAC 2009; CA 2009). It is also evident that surrounding urban and regional commercial and

residential development will continue to increase and densify (BRC 2010; May & Hill 2006).

This mutual escalation of development is associated with an array of reciprocal social and

biophysical environmental impacts. Inter-jurisdictional fragmentation in decision-making;

independent scope of environmental parameters; and inadequate mechanisms for improved land

use planning have been identified as prominent themes from the analysis of ‘land use and

environment’ across the Land Use Forums.

6.8.2.1 Inter-jurisdictional fragmentation in decision-making

Jurisdictional fragmentation was recognized by many stakeholders as contributing to piecemeal

decision-making on environmental issues. However, there was consensus that over time aspects

of jurisdictional responsibility are being resolved as stakeholders become increasingly familiar

with further environmental management frameworks. One local government stakeholder

offered this insight:

“I think within the boundaries of the airport and in the region you can get really good

decisions about the management of environmental issues, it is just the cross boundary

jurisdictional issues that are most difficult”.

Environmental policy fragmentation was also acknowledged by a state government

representative. They highlighted that while important environmental linkages exist there is

limited integration or coordination between airport and the region:



“There isn’t any integrated framework which deals with the multiplicity of environmental

issues for the airport and the region, there are linkages everywhere and they are not

necessarily coordinated”.

In one case study region a local government executive outlines how they are endeavoring to

move forward regarding airport and regional land use planning:

“We have informal information sharing around adjacent airport and regional developments -

what we are trying to do is make sure the requirements we are asking from one development

compared to the other are not too ridiculous”.

Stakeholders agree that the disjuncture on the requirements and considerations for

environmental reporting mean that airport and regional environmental management will never

be seamless. Nonetheless government stakeholders across the case studies believe that the

establishment of state government administered regional planning frameworks may provide

the necessary jurisdictional directives and regulation for an increasingly integrated approach to

regional environmental management. A local government participant outlined that: “Probably

the most appropriate vehicle for airport and regional environmental management would be

regional or sub regional planning”. While a state government decision-maker summed up the

consensus: “A regional plan, a regional response may be the best method to deal with a lot of

these environmental issues”.

6.8.2.2 Independent scope of environmental parameters

The shortcomings of jurisdictional administration are again reflected within the second key

theme of independent scope of environmental parameters. Not only are many stakeholders

seeking direction on who is responsible for what, they are also unclear on ‘what’ requires

detailed consideration. The disjuncture on the requirements and considerations for

environmental reporting across jurisdictions is a continuing source of frustration for all

stakeholders. A state government departmental manager highlights the issue: “The

environmental decision-making being made is very fragmentary; part of the problem is the range

of stakeholders involved in defining, monitoring and applying the range of environmental

parameters”.

The impacts of many environmental externalities are not able to be contained to a particular

site or situation. Environmental concerns highlighted across the case studies include storm



water runoff, flood mitigation, and noise. All Stakeholders agree that a clearer direction and

awareness of reciprocal and interface biophysical environmental impacts is needed to be

included within all strategic planning documentation. An airport executive highlights the issues

around water quality:

“The urbanization of the areas around airports is a concern for water quality issues both

on and off the airport which require management to not exacerbate on airport issues and

this needs to be a significant environmental measure”.

The anticipated cooperative understanding of environmental impacts was also extended to

include further consideration of social environmental parameters, and their forecasting, within

stakeholder strategic planning. In all of the case study regions, research participants

acknowledged that collective and agreed understanding of demographic trends and socio-

economic parameters, such as population density, household type and employment may be

valuable. Additionally cooperative strategies for a range of expected, challenging and creative

economic and environmental scenarios would be essential. A senior local government executive

explains:

“The gap is how well airport and regional land use decisions may link into a regional or

sub regional framework. Are the decisions made about developments ensuring they are

contributing to a greater physical and social environmental benefit beyond their

jurisdictions, indifferent or making it worse? And I don’t think we can answer those very

well because they are not studied”.

6.8.2.3 Inadequate mechanisms for improved land use planning

There are few mechanisms to assist in the mitigation of negative environmental impact and

promote cooperative and integrated airport and regional land use planning. However, when

considering the airport within its urban context the issue of aircraft noise is one of the foremost

concerns. More specifically airport stakeholders were universally concerned about the use of

Australia Noise Exposure Forecasts (ANEF) contours as a regional planning tool. Airport

corporations recognize that members of the community and local government have been

interpreting the boundaries of an ANEF as indicating that there is no noise exposure beyond the

contour line, this is not the case:



“We can probably start with better measurement metrics then ANEF. We need a better

way to relate to the community and to everyone actual noise impacts”.

“Aircraft noise does not stop at the line on a map, we know that many noise complaints

come from beyond the contours. The ANEF is not an effective tool for ensuring a

community is not impacted by the operation of an airport”.

In addition, they agree urban and regional stakeholders need to continue to consider airport

and regional land use planning as a three dimensional exercise with the detailed inclusion of

Obstacle Limitation Surface (OLS) and Procedures for Air Navigation Services - Aircraft

Operations (PANS-OPS) in all strategic land use planning documents. One airport manager

recognized that the complexity of these airspace management systems may have limited their

more detailed application in a regional planning, but asserts that: “There needs to be the

recognition and a discussion around city building heights and a better government understanding

of the implications for the airport”.

Across the case studies key points of environmental difference relate largely to the locational

context of the airport and region. Each of the case studies has distinct climatic conditions,

geography, flora, fauna and regional demographics. These differences are further apparent

when considering the detail of the environmental parameters included in off-airport regional

environmental strategic planning and the legislatively required Airport Environment Strategies.

Economic Development 6.8.3

Results from the Forums highlight that stakeholders recognize it is increasingly important to

consider the induced economic impacts of airport and regional land use planning, as a catalyst

for broader business and tourism opportunity. Across the case studies a significant and

recurring theme within the land use and economic interface is the limited acknowledgment of

reciprocal economic impacts. That is the requirement for all stakeholders to recognize the actual

and potential reciprocal economic impacts between an airport and the surrounding urban and

regional environment.

6.8.3.1 Limited acknowledgment of reciprocal economic impacts

Stakeholders agree that airports are significant drivers of local, regional and national economic

development by means of their aviation function. However the consensus of airport



stakeholders was that whilst the economic significance of the airport is recognized by

governments and business there is not a broader community appreciation of the economic

benefits. An airport executive sums up the sentiment:

“In terms of economic development, the role the airport plays needs to be integrated and

articulated into a framework so that people can recognize and understand the benefit the

airport brings”.

The economic significance of an airport to a region and the argument against constraining

airport development is often expressed in hundreds of thousands of dollars and thousands of

jobs lost to the regional economy (BAC 2009). With this in mind it is understood that aviation-

based airport economic development is unique, and therefore entitled to particular planning

and development concessions. However the expectation from regional stakeholders is that on-

airport commercial development is not in (economic) conflict with local and regional retail and

commercial services. They are cautious of on-airport non aeronautical landside retail and

commercial developments which are perceived to draw regional consumers away from existing

urban centers. A government representative considered that on-airport development must

recognize regional ‘centers’ policy and seek to establish commercial point of difference - “the

airport needs to ensure economic development opportunities are diverse and appropriate, looking

towards value adding non-aviation development, not regional duplication”. A local government

planner confirmed that “In terms of the (commercial) economic ambitions between the airport

and the city, there is recognized tension”.

Stakeholders recognize an airport needs to diversify its revenue streams to ensure it is

economically resilient and able to withstand unexpected and rapid change in the demand for

aviation services. They also acknowledge that mutually beneficial and cooperatively developed

airport and regional economic development is necessary. However detailed and cooperative

economic planning is difficult to achieve in consideration of commercial in confidence issues

and what many stakeholders acknowledge as competing priorities and interests. One airport

executive believes regional planning could be more proactive and has been too focused on

airport business and indeed missed land use planning opportunities:

“I think what is interesting is to think about what complementary development for the

airport, or even competitive development with the airport, has been planned for the land

around airports in the region. Probably the great missed planning opportunity is how

development occurs around the airport”.



An airport and regional land use planning consultancy representative, who has worked on both

sides of the fence, believes that the lack of integrated airport and regional planning and

development is a result of differing timeframes and divergent agendas.

“The point really is synchronization – for example at --------- airport, after redevelopment

you have an airport with aviation capacity beyond regional tourism and transport

infrastructure capacity. We need to look at the drivers of a region and synchronize all

aspect of airport and regional development. I don’t know how you actually do that because

there are different timelines and certainly different agendas”.

A telling difference between the case studies is how the airport is considered within the

strategic policy documents of their respective regions. Regional stakeholders struggle to find an

appropriate designation for what was once the airport. In Brisbane City Council’s ‘City Plan’ the

airport is designated as a ‘Special Purpose Centre’ which allows for much of the retail,

commercial and aviation functions which currently exist on the airport. However, the

Queensland Governments’ ‘South-East Queensland Regional Plan’ (to which local government

planning should be aligned) designates the airport a ‘specialist activity centre’ with a focus on

‘specialised economic activity, employment or education rather than having a retail function’

(SEQRP 2009 p 97). In South Australia the West Torrens City Council has a specific ‘Adelaide

Airport Zone’ which considers the airports aviation role, but makes little allowance or

acknowledgement of its retail and commercial precincts. Canberra airport has been denoted as

an ‘activity node’ in the Canberra Spatial Plan (the ACT Governments strategic plan), yet in the

National Capital Plan – which takes precedence over the Spatial Plan – the airport is a

‘Designated Employment Centre’. In more than a decade since privatization urban and regional

planners and policy makers continue to struggle with the changing role of airports and the

means by which they may be acknowledged, incorporated and included with the broader urban

framework.

Despite inconsistency in the designation of the airports, regional stakeholders agree that airport

policy recognition has assisted integration. They appreciate that airport master planning is

increasingly acknowledging and incorporating off-airport infrastructure and regional land use

zoning terminology.



Infrastructure 6.8.4

All case study stakeholders acknowledge the effective planning and provision of transport

infrastructure is a difficult process compounded by the long lead times and large budgets

associated with many of the necessary projects. Disputed impacts on transport infrastructures

and inadequate coordination of infrastructure delivery have been identified as key themes across

the case studies. Disputed impact relates largely to accounting for the use of a range of

infrastructures in consideration of actual and proposed land use both on and off the airport.

Inadequate coordination is the recognition of who is responsible for the provision of

infrastructure, and when, in light of the demand generated by direct and indirect use.

6.8.4.1 Disputed impacts on transport infrastructures

Regional stakeholders have often been critical of airports developing as multi use commercial

and retail centers. They believe such developments are contributing to regional road congestion

and as such there is pressure for airports to (further) financially contribute to the planning and

development of off-airport roadway infrastructure. Airport stakeholders have a different view,

as one manager explains:

“Airports will not be contributing to off-airport infrastructure unless they want to. We

won’t be forced to. Passengers don’t holiday, do business, or meet families and have their

family reunions at airports. They leave the airport and go out in the community where they

spend money and share the wealth”.

As outlined here by a state departmental manager many of the state and territory governments

are not in the financial position to implement transport infrastructure improvements in the

short to medium term:

“I would just like to say that I think the view that the airport shouldn’t contribute to any

off-site infrastructure might be fine if you could get government to say ‘ok, we’ll fund it’,

but they can’t, the money isn’t there”.

Airport stakeholders believe they have contributed enormously to on-airport infrastructure

which is of substantial benefit to the region. An airport manager explains:

“We fund and build a lot of infrastructure on site and that is not well understood. Airports

around Australia have invested 100’s of millions of dollars in airport infrastructure just to

bring the airports up to a world class standard”.



They also highlight that their infrastructure development has long been planned for and

carefully managed in stages, while the regional stakeholders’ ad hoc approach to infrastructure

delivery is in fact the cause of much regional congestion. “The airport has a staged development

approach, is the surrounding infrastructure keeping pace?”

6.8.4.2 Inadequate coordination of infrastructure delivery

How airport and regional transport infrastructure is forecast, managed and financed has been

central to much of the airport and regional planning debate. All stakeholders agree these

connections are critical in ensuring the efficient use of the airport as a regional aviation hub and

economic generator. While they recognize the importance of integrated infrastructure planning,

the links between airport and regional land use approvals and the impact on infrastructure

demand is not comprehensively sequenced or modeled in any of the case studies. A local

government planner offered this vision:

“The vision for infrastructure – an agreed foundation of governance and policy, which is

not about control, but is a coordination of growth amongst all stakeholders”.

The negotiation and establishment of infrastructure agreements regarding coordination and

contribution equity are considered of high importance by all stakeholders. They agree that there

should be no conjecture as to who is responsible for provision and payment of utilities and

transport infrastructures. It is recognized that initiation, implementation and integration of this

infrastructure needs to be facilitated through appropriate cooperative arrangements, long term

planning strategies, effective communication and committed agreements. There is evidence that

case study stakeholders are beginning to initiate and negotiate ad hoc planning and agreements

for a range of infrastructures through context driven arrangements beyond any statutory

responsibility. These arrangements have included in lieu infrastructure contributions,

memorandums of understanding, management contracts and construction finance. Airports are

cautious here not to be seen to as admitting liability, but just facilitating the required

infrastructure to support their core aviation business.

One airport executive instrumental in the establishment of such an arrangement offered this

insight:



“Recognition of the complexity and the range of ways that airports are, and may be,

involved in funding and constructing infrastructure (within the fabric of a city) are

important emergent facts”.

DISCUSSION 6.9

The purpose and significance of this research has been to apply the conceptual framework of

‘interfaces’ as a device to assist in the interpretation of airport and regional land use planning

and development. In operationalizing this framework the research has provided specific and

useful detail to the interface concept. Additionally, this work also makes a contribution to land

use planning knowledge as it offers insight into the range of issues at the intersection of private

and public land use policy; planning and priority at all privatized Australia airports. It has

allowed for focused examinations of stakeholder attitudes and perceptions and resulted in the

identification of key airport and regional land use planning themes within the interface domains

(Table 3).

Table 3 Airport and Regional Land Use Planning Themes

Land Use & Governance

Land Use & Environment

Land Use & Economic Development

Land Use & Infrastructure

• legislation limits consultation

• Divergent planning processes and priority.

• Inter-jurisdictional fragmentation in decision-making

• Independent scope of environmental parameters

• Inadequate mechanisms for improved land use planning

• Limited acknowledgment of reciprocal economic impacts.

• Disputed impacts on transport infrastructures

• Inadequate coordination of infrastructure delivery

While it is significant to be able to identify these themes across the interfaces it is equally

important to consider them in relation to one another. The interfaces framework acknowledges

interdependencies and as such the identified themes must also be considered in this way. It is

therefore important to identify the underlying issues which capture these dependencies and

articulate the principal concerns for airport and regional land use planning.

The collective of identified interface themes will be briefly considered in the context of the

broader literature to acknowledge and identify those issues which cut across the interfaces and

convey the current circumstance of airport and regional land use planning in Australia.



The changing role of airports in Australia is a consequence of privatization and the adoption of

shareholder focused business models - they are now required to be more than breakeven

aviation infrastructure installations (Freestone 2011; Hooper et al. 2000). Airports have

embraced the notion of an airport city and emerged, in part, as profitable regionally focused

industrial, commercial and retail destinations (Güller & Güller 2003; Kasarda 2001). In

consideration of all the interface themes this change has resulted in competing priorities and

interests between airports and regional stakeholders.

Much past, and present, airport and regional land use planning will ensure that compatible and

integrated land use is often not possible (May & Hill 2006). However the better management of

reciprocal impacts is achievable where they are supported by effective policy frameworks

(Blanton 2004; DoT 2002; Graham 2008). The themes revealed here support a similar position,

while adding to the causal understanding of the difficulties faced in the Australian context. The

legislation under which Australian airports are managed, and the competing policies for land

use planning in the local and regional contexts, presents themselves as significant cross cutting

issues.

The identified themes acknowledge a general discord in the coordination and decision-making

of airport and regional land use planning. This was also a key focus of the National Aviation

Policy Review in addition to being a predominant thesis in review of the emergent literature

regarding Australian airport and regional planning (Donnet et al. 2008; Freestone 2011;

Freestone & Baker 2010; Stevens et al. 2010;).

The thematic extraction and case study analysis outlined within this paper identified that land

use planning within and surrounding Australian airports does not support compatible and

integrated land use. In review of the collective themes across the interface domains this

research has made it possible to offer three principal concerns which are contributing to the

fragmentation of airport and regional land use planning:

1) inadequate coordination and disjointed decision-making;

2) current legislative and policy frameworks; and

3) competing stakeholder priorities and interests.

CONCLUSION 6.10

The confluence of aviation policy and urban planning is a result of the role airports are now

playing in connecting regional, national and global linkages. Airports are critical infrastructure



in the economy of the 21st century. However their privatization and the legislative and policy

arrangements under which they continue to be managed highlights a systemic problem of poor

coordination between commonwealth, state, territory and local government planning.

The work reported in this paper demonstrates that there is a level of consistency in the

problems faced by cohorts of stakeholders across the case studies. It is important to recognize

however that each case study has distinctly different economic, social, environmental,

infrastructure and governance and demographic drivers. As such, these regional context factors

reveal that much of the effort for cooperative and integrated airport and regional planning

needs to be negotiated at a local and regional level.

Whilst the White Paper has forwarded commitments to reinforcing the communicative

mechanisms for airport and regional dialogue, there appears to be little in the way of

mechanisms for genuine planning assistance, or indeed the provision to any party, other than

the Australian Government, significant influence in the planning processes. The future of airport

master planning and surrounding urban policy coordination lie within negotiated

understanding and agreement beyond statutory and legislative frameworks. The lack of

promotion or consideration for the development of regional context driven spatial frameworks

within the White Paper is obvious in its absence and in light of this research the fragmentary

themes at the root of incompatible land use planning, are yet to be addressed.

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Chapter 7: Stakeholder perspectives on airport and regional land use planning 182


7Chapter 7: Stakeholder perspectives on

airport and regional land use planning

INTRODUCTION 7.1

This research examines airport and state, territory and local government responses to airport

and regional land use planning relationships, processes and outcomes. The research explores

the perceptions of airport and regional stakeholders within three case study areas – Brisbane,

Adelaide and Canberra. This study builds on previous case study research from the land use

forums that outlined the issues surrounding land use planning presented significant challenges

for stakeholders (Stevens & Baker 2011). It is significant to understand the position and outlook

of each stakeholder in this process to evaluate opportunities for integrated solutions. Within

this context, the research focused on identifying the mechanisms used by, or imposed upon,

stakeholders for the consultation, establishment and application of airport and regional land

use planning. The research findings identify areas of common concern as a means to provide a

clearer interpretation and possible prioritisation of shared land use planning issues.

From a conceptual standpoint the investigation of relationships, processes and outcomes of land

use planning remind us of that the core business of planning is communicative practice (Innes

1995). In this circumstance, the present practice may be limited in advancing cooperative,

coordinated and integrated planning. This research demonstrates that the communicative turn

for the management of reciprocal airport and regional impacts has in the past entrenched the

separateness and tension between the stakeholders.

Background 7.1.1

The previous chapter (6) explored the nature of airport and regional land use conflict in

Australia and identified three cross cutting themes which were considered to contribute to the

continued fragmentation of airport and regional land use planning:






These themes were identified from the thematic analysis of airport and regional stakeholder

land use forums held with the Australian case studies of Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra

(Stevens & Baker 2011). Their identification was facilitated by the operationalisation of the

airport metropolis conceptual model as a communicative framework for research. The aim of

this current research is to add finer grained detail to the scaffold of the fragmentary themes to

better inform the actual circumstance of airport and regional land use planning. As such the

fragmentary themes are recast and recognised here as resulting from the interdependency of

airport and regional stakeholder perspectives on land use planning 1) relationships, 2)

processes and 3) outcomes.

Relationships are taken here to represent the perceptions of airport and state, territory and

local government stakeholder interactions. These are the formal relationships established

through legislative requirements and negotiated agreements, as well as the informal

relationships of information sharing. From a communicative perspective the research is

interested who stakeholders consult with, and the means by which they consult.

Processes refer to the mechanisms employed to undertake land use planning at the airport

metropolis. Here the research seeks to gain stakeholder perspectives to establish if these

processes are resulting in appropriate land use decisions and broader urban development

compatibility. The research also explores stakeholder perceptions on the delivery and

placement of these processes across airport and regional land use planning practice.

Outcomes identify how stakeholders perceive the consequences of established airport and

regional land use planning. The research explores whether effective communication has led to

better land use coordination, and identifies the means by which stakeholders seek more

equitable planning outcomes. Additionally, stakeholders identify their organisations most

significant issues for land use planning and the airport metropolis.

METHODS 7.2

Through the use of stakeholder semi-structured interviews this research provides detailed

insight into practitioner perspectives on airport and regional land use planning relationships,

processes and outcomes in Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra. The airport stakeholders consist of

airport lessee directors, general managers, directors of planning and divisional managers in the

land use planning and property portfolios of the case study airports. The regional stakeholders

are composed of chief executive officers, general managers, senior planners, development



assessment managers and transport and planning departmental managers of state, territory and

local government.

Between May 2009 and August 2010 a total of twenty four (24) face to face semi-structured

interviews were undertaken within the three cases studies. Each participant was invited to

discuss issues associated with six (6) core questions relating to land use planning relationships,

process and outcomes:

• RELATIONSHIPS

1). Which stakeholders do you coordinate with in the development / process of integrated airport and regional land use planning? (+ mechanisms)

2). What is the nature of the relationships between stakeholders (local councils; airport; state government; wider community)

• PROCESS

3). Do you think the current planning system is working? (optimisation of the airport and the surrounding metropolitan area?) - is the system facilitating good land use decision making and compatible land uses?

4). What level of documentation and indeed by whom would you consider that airport and regional land use planning integration could/ should/ may occur?

• OUTCOMES

5). How is the airport/region viewed/considered in airport and regional strategic and planning documents?

6). What are the four (4) most significant airport and metropolitan land use planning challenges (issues and impacts) your organisation is currently facing?

Semi structured interviews 7.2.1

The key goal of a semi-structured interview is to understand the respondent point of view. For

the communicative planning perspective of this research, this style of interview allows for in

depth discussion and provides for high validity as respondents are able to talk about issues in

detail. This method also affords the ability to ask spontaneous questions to get to the core of a

matter (Barriball & While 1994). Here the use of some standardisation of the questions has

increased the reliability of the data.

The airport and regional stakeholder accounts of their experiences in land use planning are the

primary source of data for this research. The data was recorded and transcribed, and then

returned to participants. This increased the validity of the findings and allowed the respondents

to confirm that what has been recorded is what they meant, and also afforded the opportunity



to withdraw statements with which they are not comfortable. While some editing of the

responses was carried out by the participants, no statements were withdrawn.

The data from the three cases studies was pooled into airport responses and government

responses for thematic content analyses. An initial list of themes was then produced by reading

the transcribed data, identifying the semantic features. Working across the data, all interesting

aspects were identified and coded. These themes were then reconsidered to ensure that they

adequately captured the essence of the data, and were then further examined against the entire

data set. This provided for an accurate representation of the stakeholder agreement or

disputation across the three case studies. As such the findings reported here are taken to

represent collective concerns and specific case study issues identification is minimal. The

findings are prioritised around the key land use planning issues of relationships, process and

outcomes, any additional sub themes are also identified under these headings.

RESEARCH FINDINGS 7.3

Airport metropolis stakeholder relationships 7.3.1

The consensus from case study stakeholders is that airport and local, state and territory

government land use planning relationships have improved over time. Regardless many of these

relationships continue to be recognised as inadequate for the establishment of integrated and

cooperative land use planning. Consultation and communication are central to the ongoing

efforts of the federal government in addressing the continued fragmentation of stakeholder

relationships.

The case study airports identify an ever increasing inventory of consultations across all tiers of

government, the aviation industry, the broader business community and the general public.

While many of the consultations are required to fulfil statutory master planning and major

development plan requirements, a large number are considered ‘good business’ in maintaining

the critical airport relationships and support from industry and community groups. Additionally

the airports recognise that ongoing dialogue is necessary to maintain the commercial integrity

of the airport and ensure that key regional planning issues are continuously considered by

governments. Airport stakeholders identify these issues as including: airspace protection and

adjoining land use; maintenance of buffer zones; addressing potential future aircraft noise

impacts through the ANEF system; the evolution of the ANEF system and building height

protection. One airport manager highlights that:



The consultations (therefore) cover federal, local and state government, the airlines - we could provide you with a suite of those but basically there would be at least 54 essential bodies we must consult with and then there is the general community (###3##).

State, territory and local government stakeholders deal almost exclusively with the airport

when considering on-airport planning issues, and do not generally seek to secure a broader

consultative representation or dialogue. Much of the necessary consultation for airport planning

is instigated by the airports and as such state and local government stakeholders rely on them

for ensuring appropriate consultative inclusion. Indeed only three instances of airport planning

dialogue between the local and state government (outside of the airport forums) was noted in

the research. State, territory and local government have very few established working

relationships to present a more united response to airport initiated forums; formal policy or

development referrals. In one instance, a senior local government stakeholder detailed the

circumstance of government interaction:

So that was a good opportunity (after an airport forum) just to compare the notes on our submission and they did the same. So informally we were able to see what the others wrote, and covered some of the same issues (##2###).

While the governments do not recognise the value in broader collaboration on airport planning

issues, the airports are well practised in managing consultation and marketing their leasehold

asset.

7.3.1.1 Range of communicative mechanisms

Today the airports have an array of consultative mechanisms to manage community and

government consultations: airport community forums; airport consultative committees; round

tables; business forums; open days; newsletters; e-news; local news media; web portals; and

open doors to name a few. All three case study airports consider that they have been actively

and appropriately consulting with the public and other stakeholders since the beginning of

privatisation, yet acknowledge that some other capital city airports are more recent converts to

the broader consultation.

Over time the range of formal consultation and communication assemblies have been expanded,

condensed, disbanded and re-established. Each case study airport has regionally specific

mechanisms for consultation, but all with the broader intent of fulfilling regulatory

requirements and managing those critical regional relations. Many of the forums are inclusive of

all tiers of government, while others are conducted as one on one discussion with both industry



and government. Each of the case study airports has successfully established ‘one stop shops’

for dealing with local and state government. These consultative portals allow for a single point

of contact with government, most often at the highest levels, as a means of information

dissemination and also in recognition of their self-proclaimed role as a ‘key’ customer. Each of

the case study airports recognise the benefits of one stop shops, as detailed below:

If you are talking to an agency chief the message is more likely to get down the rungs, they have seniority to pass the message down (##4###).

(the airport is) seeking the higher level dialogue as a key customer in state concerns, requiring higher recognition as the key economic generator for the state (###3##).

they established a one stop shop for us – rather than having to track around 7 or 8 different government agencies, they appointed the Minister as the one stop shop (#1####).

Some government representatives highlighted limitations for them in the one stop approach;

despite the convenience it may afford the airports. In some cases, the intention was to provide a

whole of department, or indeed whole of government response to airport planning issues and as

a consequence, stakeholders acknowledged that compromises are made within and between

departmental positions, so as to not appear contradictory. It was agreed by government

stakeholders that this approach would appear to favour the airport position in both efficiency

and in mitigating the range and detail of issues which required their attention. As one

government departmental interviewee noted:

Yes there are conflicting positions within the government from departments (####1#).

Some concern was also raised by government stakeholders about the formalisation of the

consultation processes and that the committee structure primarily facilitated the regulatory

requirements of airport consultation without a genuine commitment to engage. In one case, the

government was surprised to see that the airport had documented four continuous years of

airport master plan consultation (occurring 4 times per year). In reality the meetings were for

the identification of short to medium term cross border issues; consultation on the master plan

had never explicitly been included on any agenda. The government planner felt that there was a

significant difference between formulating a position on development and consulting, and

consulting to formulate a position on development (###3##).

For many local and state government stakeholders articulating the tension between them and

the airport is easily expressed, but it is also apparent that there is significant tension between

the tiers of government. Certainly from one local government perspective, the multiple land use



approvals within the same municipality are leading to uncertainty. The state and territory

governments recognise they have an oversight role in offering a more holistic regional planning

approach to airport development. They also acknowledge the need to be more decisive on

broader issues such as the cultural, social, economic, tourism and trade push - pull factors of

regional development (including airports) with recommendations and deliberations then

flowing to local councils, and informing practice state-wide. The case study airports recognise a

stronger relationship with the state and territory governments and consider that to be the

primary regional relationship - despite, or possibly because, ‘the states are more hands off than

the councils’ (#5####).

The airport relationship with the federal government appears to have suffered over time. For

many years following privatisation, they were hands off, and light handed regulation had been

the order of the best part of a decade. More recently, and particularly in light of the National

Aviation Policy Review, the airports consider the federal relationship as one of ongoing and

increasing oversight with the intent to micro-managing the business of airports. Case study

airports feel the federal government has been inconsistent in its approach to the assessment

and coordination of the airport master plans. One airport official identified it as a consequence

of staff ‘churn’ within the department, and that in fact the expertise for airport planning is now

held by the airports themselves. He suggested:

The fact is that we have done it before and we know what we are doing, the expertise for planning is now in the airports, there is no expertise in the department (##1###).

The evolving federal government requirements for consultation and master plan presentation

are offered as examples of federal policy following airport practice. Despite presenting leading

practice airport planning, the airports are frustrated that the onus is on them to change with

very little evidence of reflective examination occurring at any level of government.

Local government case study stakeholders feel the federal government is moving in the right

direction with the Aviation White Paper. They would in fact like increased consideration of a

broader suite of concerns beyond real estate development and commercial economic

enterprise. They highlight their accountability to social, cultural and demographic

considerations - all of which are considered to be exacerbated by the increasing levels of on-

airport development – aviation or not.

It is just about recognition of those other sort of processes, those social processes, cultural processes and issues that we need to be aware of when we’re developing our plans and not



purely driven from an economic perspective when you’re looking at airport land (#####4).

The federal government is seeking to ensure adequate public and industry consultation through

increased oversight and regulatory requirements. It cannot however control all airport and

regional planning relationships and many stakeholders recognise that some of the most

influential interaction, sit well outside of stakeholder and federal government control.

7.3.1.2 Media, politics and personalities

A recurring theme identified from the analysis of the interviews was that which relates to the

role of the media, politics and personalities in the planning for land use and the airport

metropolis. The airports recognise that the role of the media is a significant factor in community

attitude towards airports, and as such they invest significant time and money in ensuring the

‘right’ message is presented. Airports agreed that the management of the public profile and the

promotion of the benefit of the airport is the role of the airport; they feel they cannot rely on

local and state government to advocate on their behalf, despite the broader benefits the airport

imparts both on the government and the community. The airports host and attend a range of

community forums for consultation and recognise the importance of being ‘good neighbours’.

The requirements for these forums were recently formalised as one of the outcomes from the

National Aviation Policy Review (Australian Government 2011). The airports agree that for the

most part the broader community see the airport development as a good thing; despite the

assertion that the majority of the community are unaware the airports have been privatised.

Two senior airport mangers offered their perspectives:

You have to bring the community with you, hearts and minds, sponsorships of events, hosting of events (##2###).

We did a survey the other day where we asked - do they know who owns the airport? – Only 50% knew who owned the airport (###1##).

Both airport and government stakeholders acknowledge the political nature of airport planning

and the pressures that may be exerted in ensuring its limitation or indeed efficient

implementation. The airports highlight the politicising of aviation impacts in election campaigns

across the country, most notably within the federal seats of Griffith in Queensland and

Grayndler and Eden-Monaro in New South Wales. Where you have three tiers of government

coming together, the issue of airport planning and development will always be politically

polarising (##7###).



The power exerted by individuals is also offered as a destabilising dynamic by all stakeholders.

Those personalities within key decision-making positions are recognised as inhibiting the

planning process and potentially eroding any broader goodwill. Indeed, one airport stakeholder

offered that the processes and outcomes were always going to be compromises because

alignment and decision-making is never ideal when ‘people’ are involved. One airport manager

details their experience:

Previously local government wanted to control the airport; it has taken 6 years to get documents of agreement and understanding signed because of one personality (####6#).

Communication and its manipulation can play a significant role in effecting land use planning. In

considering airport and regional planning across the public / private divide it is no more

pertinent. So despite the recognition that many communicative mechanisms are easily

‘managed’, there is an ever increasing communicative turn in land use planning processes.

Airport metropolis land use process 7.3.2

7.3.2.1 The increasing communicative turn

Within all the cases studies it was acknowledged by most of the stakeholders that there is a

growing federal government expectation of broader community and stakeholder consultation

when undertaking any airport planning and development. As noted by one airport executive:

I think there is an increased expectation from the Commonwealth that the airports will be incredibly comprehensive in their consultation. That has come from statements in the White Paper; a lot of it has come from the State Governments (####2#).

The increased communicative turn by the federal government was no more apparent than the

recent National Aviation Policy Review (2008 – 2010) and resulting White Paper (2010). The

government stakeholders universally agreed that the communicative focus of the White Paper is

heading in the right direction, but is generally only resulting in the dissemination of more

‘information’. They question if there has been an increase or indeed the facilitation of genuine

engagement around issue of airport and regional planning.

The general political will is to consult more and provide additional detail across the range of

airport planning documents. Airports acknowledge that master plan and major development

plan processes are under closer scrutiny with regard to the nature and range of consultations

being undertaken. With each new round of planning approvals the consultative requirements are

more prescriptive and increasingly onerous (###8##).



The level of consultative detail required for federal government approval of recent master

planning documents has been a significant issue for many airports. Indeed the 2009 draft

Canberra Airport Master Plan was not approved on the grounds that it lacked sufficient detail

with regard to consultation for proposed on-airport development. All case study airport

stakeholders assert that the master plan, as a statutory document, should not be detailing

specific on-airport planning and is not the place for the itemisation of consultations.

Some cases study airports are documenting all consultations, forums, meetings and stakeholder

interactions to evidence their communicative effort, presenting a log of consultations for

inclusion within forthcoming master plans and MDP’s. An airport stakeholder explains:

Documentation of the consultation is key to build a log of consultation and feedback - this is the date, the time, this is who, this is what was discussed, this is the outcome, this is where we are heading, and these are the necessary actions (###2###).

Many Australian airports have been privatised for more than a decade and to the frustration of

airports the requirements for planning and development continue to be amended. Importantly

many stakeholders have reflected that the early planning interactions were marred in conflict

and this has been significant for ongoing relationships.

7.3.2.2 The early years of privatisation

The delivery of the privatisation process is recognised by all stakeholders as having contributed

to many of the past and present airport and regional planning difficulties. One stakeholder

succinctly and diplomatically described the early stakeholder interactions as ‘unpleasant’

(##6###). Local government stakeholders highlight the lack of initial broader consultation and

program explanation to the public and state, territory and local government as a failing of the

federal government. A senior planning manager outlines their position:

If all stakeholders knew what had been negotiated, it may answer some questions. While not agreeing with such a process, it would provide some clarity and transparency to the past and current situation (#1####).

It created perceptions of a lack of transparency in the airport planning process - which

continues to persist. Local government also highlight the initial airport lessee consultation

processes also contributed to mistrust. More specifically, one local government stakeholder

argues that it was the ‘carte blanche’ attitude which many of the airports took with regard to on-

airport planning and development that contributed to the mistrust (#1####). Indeed airport



stakeholders admit that the early standpoint of many airports was less inclusive; their position

was that they had just paid a lot of money for these assets. We paid a fortune for this airport why

shouldn’t we build the DFO - it was in the master plan (####7#).

Government stakeholders highlight that the rapid facilitation of on-airport development and

much of its disregard for regional planning was alarming. Airport representatives counter that

much of the problem was due to the lack of regard that had been given to the potential for the

airport to develop as more than aviation transit hubs and their treatment as ‘black holes’ on

local and state government planning. A senior airport planner explains their position:

The master plan hasn’t changed a lot since the 70’s when it was first written, the development was there, but I think people were surprised when development occurred. Equally I think the city and the state had simply ignored the master plan for the airport, well that’s got nothing to do with us (#####8).

Within early airport master plans some of the on-airport development intent was considered by

the region as deliberatively exclusive, and indeed a direct threat to city planning. For example,

the promotion of the concept of the ‘airport city’ by Brisbane Airport Corporation did not find

any support from Brisbane City Council. Despite the application of the concept largely as a

marketing tool, the articulation of the separateness, in parallel with the establishment of an on-

airport retail centre resulted in the initiation of legal action. The experience set the tone for this

airport and government relationship for many years and both sides continue to be cautious in

their dealings. It was definitely the case that they thought that vision resulted in some challenge to

the CBD. It was not our intent to give that impression (###2##).

From positions of conflict emerged the formalisation of a range of agreements as a means to

progress better airport and regional planning. In some case studies they have been long

established while in another stakeholders have only recently acknowledged the benefits with

regard to development certainty and financial gain.

7.3.2.3 Emerging process of formalised agreements

While the early airport and regional land use planning processes were often mutually exclusive,

over time all stakeholders have developed arrangements to better assist cooperative planning.

Within all of the case study regions, various formalised partnership agreements have been

initiated. These predominantly take the form of memorandums of understanding; rates

agreements and infrastructure agreements, or a combination of the three. These mechanisms



deal less with consultation and more with arrangements for mutual financial responsibilities

and liabilities. In the main they constitute the negotiation of ex gratia rates payments and

infrastructure charges agreements and disbursements. Local government managers from two of

the case studies explain:

There are also formal arrangements in place with the airport on construction of infrastructure, particularly road infrastructure around the airport. There are agreements in place for contribution, financial contributions and also project management (####4#).

The rates payment agreement is retrospective and ongoing, outside of any major infrastructure agreements and contributions (#7####).

These agreements are recognised by the municipalities as facilitating a better preparedness of

the airports to discuss the issues surrounding on-airport development. In some cases these

arrangements offer measures to cap on-airport retail and several are tied to infrastructure

charges on non-aviation development, while others establish triggers for development tied to

the provision of specific access infrastructure. Some also offer agreed rates payment for on-

airport non-aviation development; however the definitions of non-aviation development still

require agreement. These agreements largely represent a significant and ongoing multimillion

dollar windfall to the regions and a level of certainty in regional support for airport

development.

7.3.2.4 Is the current system is working?

A key ‘land use planning process’ question within the semi-structured interviews asked

participants: Do you think the current process for airport and regional planning is working?

The airport respondents indicated that they believed the current system is working; however

several acknowledged that there would always be issues in any process that required

negotiation. In one case study, the airport master plan is offered as an example of a proactive

document which should be considered as the lead document for the region. The airport

manager believes the reactive nature of current urban and regional planning may be better

served through a focus on the airport as the key economic generator for the city. Airport master

planning is based on modern principles; I don’t know if off airport planning has come into the 21st

century (####5#).

Local, state and territory governments were, on the whole, less enthusiastic about the current

system, to the point that none acknowledge it as providing for optimal outcomes for the city or



the airport. The consensus was that the current airport planning process, under the Airports Act

1996 favoured the airports. The limited consideration of on-airport development impacts on the

broader urban area was highlighted as a significant problem by state and local governments.

These stakeholders highlighted that there are no requirements for the airport to undertake

analysis to identify the impacts of, or indeed the necessity for a particular development. The

airport does limited assessment about whether their land uses are going to impact on ones

adjacent or surrounding. There’s no evidence of assessment in their master plan (#####8).

State, territory and local government stakeholders largely acknowledge that they will not be

granted control of on-airport non-aviation development assessment, but would indeed like to

establish land use planning consistency between the airport and the city through engagement. A

state government planner explains:

We’ll never get the ideal situation which is that they come under the umbrella of State and Territory planning regimes which is what a number of governments have previously recommended. I think you’ll find most have accepted that it’s not going to happen so we’re looking at what’s the right alternative, which is a more cooperative process (##4###).

The only way forward for improved airport and regional planning will be through improved

communication as it is evident that neither stakeholder will ever be granted assessment

manager responsibilities beyond their boundaries. As such airport metropolis land use

planning outcomes must rely on the production of compatible, coordinated and integrated

regional plans and airport master plans

Airport metropolis land use outcomes 7.3.3

7.3.3.1 Improved communication = improved planning

A key identified theme from this research is that relating to the ability for improved

communication to lead to improved land use planning outcomes. The primary focus for such

communicative improvement and integration is identified by all stakeholders as being best

facilitated through all levels of strategic and master planning documents. It is recognised that

the value of all stakeholder documents is increased where they acknowledge, and where

practicable, include the planning considerations of other stakeholders.

In each of the case studies, there is evidence of airport and regional concerns within stakeholder

planning documents. This largely constitutes the airport master plan incorporating aspects of

the land use planning ‘language’ of the region, and the identification by state and local planning



of the airport as an economic generator or employment centre. While they are by no means

planning, cooperatively the mutual recognition of planning intent is agreed as one step in the

development of better land use planning outcomes.

The airport and the local government are both commercial entities. While the airports freely

admit to a more commercial outlook and philosophy for land use planning and development,

they also recognise that local government has commercial interest high on its agenda. Airport

stakeholders contend that airport and regional land use planning conflict is largely an issue of

development control and lost revenue for the local government.

The local governments do admit to speaking a commercial language and argue that in part, they

need to be a commercially focussed organisation if they are to best serve the community. They

do however note their broader social and cultural responsibilities in land use planning

development and outcomes. The airport is considered to have a narrow focus on maximising

economic potential, and a protectionist attitude of the airport as a commercial asset.

The development of airports as mixed use activity centres is broadly acknowledged by the

airports as necessary for the viable operation of the airport. It is considered as a ‘risk

management strategy’ against sudden or ongoing downturns in the aviation industry as a result

of pandemic, terrorist attack, volcanic emissions and industrial actions (##2###). State,

territory and local government stakeholders agree that if there is on-airport land which is

superfluous to the aviation requirements of the airport, then indeed there should be suitable

development to support the viability of the airport as a Commonwealth owned national asset. It

is the ‘type’ of on-airport development which is the source of disagreement; more specifically it

is the definition of non-aeronautical commercial development. The airports argue there is very

little on airports that cannot be associated, directly and indirectly, with the aviation operation of

the airport. The provision of support retail and commercial services is an approach required to

service the travelling public, their families and friends and the broader airport work force

community. One of the case study airport managers outlines their point of view:

You’ve got your supermarket, your tavern, your hotel, recreation facility, childcare facilities. These facilities are just typical of what is demanded by the level of workforce we have in the airport at the moment (####6#).

In line with the protection and promotion of airports as national assets, state and territory

government stakeholders highlight the recent establishment of the Major Cities Unit within the

Department of Infrastructure and Transport. The recent national urban policy initiative - Our

Cities, Our Future - and subsequent guidelines have a key focus on infrastructure as the major



driver for urban development. The potential implications for future airport and regional

planning are yet to be realised, or indeed acknowledged. A government departmental manager

highlights:

The fact that you’ve got a Major Cities Unit and Infrastructure Australia looking at what the urban implications are of certain infrastructure investments should provide for a sharper commonwealth focus on airport development (#####7).

Any guidance on what may be considered as appropriate airport development would be

welcomed by regional stakeholders. The definition of what constitutes non aeronautical

development is a significant issue for the relevance of infrastructure contribution agreements

with local, state and territory governments.

7.3.3.2 Infrastructure conflicts

Infrastructure provision and liability is identified by all stakeholders as one of the primary

issues contributing to the airport and regional tension. Keys concerns highlighted by regional

stakeholders relate to the apparent congestion of road infrastructures from the development of

on-airport non-aviation commercial and retail land use. They argue that the regional

connections to airports were being obstructed by increased traffic loads and that this imperils

and impacts broader roadway networks. Government stakeholders have previously insisted

that additional road works would need to be undertaken by the airports and, or they contribute

to the maintenance of these connections. Airport stakeholders disagreed and argue that a lack of

regional infrastructure investment is the cause of the problem and as such local and state

government are responsible. They maintain that they have invested in the airport

infrastructure, without regional contributions, and they would not be paying for the

infrastructure mismanagement of government. A case study airport general manager notes:

The roads surrounding the airport are state roads, we have voluntarily provided infrastructure support where it is wanted, but we will not be responsible for poor planning by the government and we have made it quite clear that the airport is a conduit for bringing business into the state. The arrivals don’t stay in the airport boundary they go out into the state and conduct business – contributing to the state (####9#).

The airlines do their bit keeping their infrastructure up to date, we do our bit to keep the infrastructure up to date, and the government can do their bit to keep the infrastructure up to date (1#####).

Some airports have indeed contributed to regional road projects both financially and through

project management, while others have negotiated infrastructure agreements which allow for



partial financial contributions. In one case study the point was made by a government

representative that the key difference between on-airport and regional infrastructure is that

airport infrastructure is user pays: the airport aprons, taxi ways and runways are all generating

an income, and as such, their provision cannot be compared to the provision of regional road

infrastructures. He states,

...they are spending a fortune on infrastructure out there but it’s all about making a profit and at present time, while the public isn’t paying in a very transparent way, there are hundreds of millions of dollars going into infrastructure surrounding the airport which then externalises the cost, particularly for transport task (#7####).

Infrastructure agreements for transport appear to potentially represent a means by which the

fair and equitable attribution of use and impact may be negotiated. Further consideration may

be required for the inclusion and identification of effective and efficient public transport

systems and travel demand management strategies within the periodic renewal of these

agreements.

Ongoing issues for stakeholders 7.3.4

7.3.4.1 Airport Stakeholders:

Airport stakeholders were universally concerned about two key issues: 1) regional residential

development under flight paths impacting the operational capacity of the airport; and 2) the

planning and provision of transport connections to and from the airport. It is considered

essential by airport representatives that regional planning is in place to ensure the road

network had the capacity to support the development of the airport. Additionally, there were

several issues regarding the need to ensure consideration is given to mode share and public

transport access.

Government intervention and re-regulation is also identified as adding to the uncertainty for

airports and inhibiting their ability to invest in the development of the airport. Further that

political support is important for what happens at the airport and is vital in providing certainty

in the airports investment profile.

Other issues included the lack of understanding by off airport agencies that airports have a

robust and legitimate planning regime, and that those plans require detailed consideration

when planning off airport. Additionally this planning regime is outlined as offering quality



outcomes for the community through the efficiencies and improved service delivery that

planning and development under one owner can offer.

7.3.4.2 Government Stakeholders:

The principal issue was identified as the need for airport planning to integrate with the state

strategic and local government development planning, both substantively in land use and

procedurally with stakeholder input. Further, they identified that consistency is required

between the land use definitions and descriptions of airport and regional development - all

parties speaking the same planning language with the same planning intent. This was

articulated as seeking to establish two documents that are harmonious with one another and

provide for appropriate engagement and a clear regional land development strategy for

cooperative and compatible development.

The primacy of the airport to provide aviation services is identified as a significant issue, and in

that regard, the need for the identification and detailing of complementary developments on-

airport to support the airports aviation function.

Transport infrastructure emerged here also as a key issue. The regional perspective is to gain a

better insight into the impact of the airport from a traffic management perspective and ensuring

ongoing and adequate contributions on a fair user pays basis.

DISCUSSION 7.4

The privatisation of airports represents one of the largest private market controls of previously

public infrastructure in Australia. It also allows the private management of a piece of

infrastructure which, more than any other has the potential to physically, socially and

economically impact spatial and urban form. The modern airport is a complex and multi-

product private entity that is integrally connected to surrounding land uses. In the past impacts

were mainly a result of the airport’s aviation function, however, today the airport has grown

into a multi-use activity centre presenting all tiers of government with significant challenges

and opportunities.

The privatisation of Australian airports resulted in necessary and significant investment in

airport and aviation infrastructure upgrades across the country. It has also resulted in airport



lessees seeking a return on investment through a variety of on-airport real estate development,

including: business parks, aviation support services, commercial offices and retail centres.

Many state, territory and local government stakeholders were surprised by the rapid

development of these ‘new’ airport land uses, and often the reaction was negative to the

airport’s exclusion from local and territory government land use planning process. These early

stakeholder interactions unfortunately established much of the basis for the ongoing

relationships. The planning and reporting requirements for airports and the consultative

requirements between stakeholders has remained largely unchanged. However, overtime

airport and regional relationships have improved as a result of stakeholder familiarity with the

process and its limitations.

In 2008 the federal government presented an ‘issues paper’ to instigate a National Aviation

Policy Review. In 2010 a White Paper of policy directions was delivered, which in part set out

‘initiatives to ensure better planning and integrated development on and around airports’

(Australian Government 2009). Many of the recommendations for airport and regional planning

dealt with the process of planning, rather than the product. Major initiatives have had a

significant focus on regulating and prescribing communicative processes and mechanisms for

consultation, leaving very little room for informal stakeholder interactions. Two such

mechanisms for stakeholder and community interactions have been more recently introduced:

Guidelines for Planning Coordination Forums and Guidelines for Aviation Consultation Groups. The

benefits of the Planning Coordination Forums for the discussion of ‘issues and exchange of

information on airport planning and operations and on the implications for the airport of

development in the surrounding areas’ may not be recognised in the short term and caution is

advised in consideration of the issues raised within this research.

While the federal government seeks increased stakeholder and community consultation, this

very approach may potentially lead to further division in airport metropolis land use planning.

Purcell (2009) recognises the communicative turn in planning is not always supported as

providing the best framework for confronting neo-liberalisation. It has the potential to provide

the airport lessees with consultative practices that are widely accepted as ‘democratic’ but do

not (or cannot) fundamentally challenge existing relations of power (p 141). Previous research

indicates that informal networks, based in good faith have been advancing airport and regional

land use planning, albeit on an ad hoc basis (Stevens & Baker 2011).

Several implications for land use planning practice may be noted from this research for

consideration across other privatised airports. One – the federal government’s increasingly



prescriptive approach to consultation allows little room for stakeholder or community

negotiation or intervention. Consultation is undermined by prescription and potentially only

facilitates a democratically ‘legitimate’ process fulfilling statutory requirements. Second,

airports have embraced an array of communication mechanisms and forums for dealing

formally and informally with the entire range of stakeholders. They recognise the importance of

maintaining these communicative relationships for regulatory and public profile purposes and

make effective use of a range of media to keep decision-makers and the wider community well

informed. Third, is the potential for land use planning relationships, processes and outcomes to

become defined by ad hoc and individual interest-based bargaining around rates and

infrastructure agreements. These processes are not inclusive or collaborative and indeed

involve the shifting of power between stakeholders (Innes 2004). And last, is the recognition

that effective and appropriate communicative practice (grounded in transparency,

accountability and accessibility) has the potential to deliver integrated and coordinated airport

and regional land use planning.

REFERENCES 7.5

Australian Government. (2009) National Aviation Policy White Paper: Flight Path to the Future.


Canberra, Australia.

Australian Government. (2011) Community Aviation Consultation Groups Guidelines. Department

of Infrastructure and Transport, Canberra, Australia. February.

Barriball, K. and While, A. (1994) Collecting data using a semi-structured interview: a discussion

paper. Journal of Advanced Nursing 19: 328 – 335.

Innes, J.E. (1995) Planning Theory's Emerging Paradigm: Communicative Action and Interactive

Journal of Planning Education and Research14: 183 – 189.

Purcell, M. (2009) Resisting Neoliberalization: Communicative Planning or Counter-Hegemonic

Movements? Planning Theory 8 (2): 140 – 165.

Stevens, Nicholas J. & Baker, Douglas. (2011) Land use conflict across the airport fence:

competing urban policy, planning and priority in Australia. Urban Policy and Research.

(submitted).

Chapter 8: Conclusion 201


8Chapter 8: Conclusion

The following conclusion will detail the cumulative impact of the publications and will return to

the aims of the thesis to address the significance of the findings. It will also outline the

knowledge claims of the thesis and provide recommendations for the consideration of airport

and regional land use planning and development. Figure 8 provides an overview of the

relationship of the questions to each of the chapter publications.

Figure 8 Questions and Chapters

Chapter 4: Airports in their urban settings: towards a conceptual model of interfaces in Australia

Chapter 6: Land use conflict across the airport fence: competing urban policy, planning and priority in Australia

Chapter 7: Stakeholder perspectives on airport and regional land use planning

Chapter 5: Managing airport land development under regulatory uncertainty

Chapter 3: Airport city developments in Australia: land use classification and analyses

Chapter 2: Literature Review - Understanding the Australian Airport Metropolis

Question2: How can the complexity of the integrated and reciprocal airport and regional impacts be conceptualised to assist policy, practice and research?

Chapter 1: Introduction & Background

Chapter 8: Conclusion & Significance of Findings

Question1: How has the role of the airport changed in Australia, and what are the implications for cooperative development with the adjacent urban region?

Question 3: What are the airport and regional stakeholder perspectives with regard to the potential conflicts and opportunities in the establishing collaborative and cooperative land use planning?



QUESTION 1: HOW HAS THE ROLE OF THE AIRPORT CHANGED IN 8.1AUSTRALIA, AND WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT WITH THE ADJACENT URBAN REGION?

Chapter 2: Understanding the Australian Airport Metropolis 8.1.1

The research establishes an overview of the history and key aspects of Australian airport

ownership, detailing the privatisation of 22 Federal Airports Corporation (FAC) airports under

the Airports Act 1996. The policy and legislative arrangements under the Airports Act covers a

range of issues including: the development of civil aviation; comparison of airport performance;

ownership of airports and international obligations; and the efficient and economic

development of airports. In acknowledging this multi-faceted nature of airports, the research

turns more specifically to the examination of land use planning and development under the Act.

The main features of these processes are outlined and are primarily noteworthy for their

exclusion of regional planning, and the large degree of airport lessee discretion afforded to on-

airport planning and development. Conversely local, state and territory land use planning offers

the airports limited opportunities for input. Despite more than a decade of airport and regional

planning and development, the research reveals significant communicative short comings

across three tiers of planning and infrastructure legislation and policy.

It is significant that this research, for the first time, assembles a distinct progression within the

Australian airport literature from 1914 – 2011. From the military importance (1914), to

engineering requirements of airport and aviation (1920s); to management and public transport

recognition (1930s); urban planning foresight around encroachment (1951); and an

understanding of the economic and social advantages for Australia (1950s); to spectacular

technological advancement and airport upgrades (1960s & 1970s); then as out of favour urban

inconveniences and public costs (1970s & 1980s); to the attention afforded to Sydney airport’s

expansion, in parallel with the environmental impact arguments (1990s); deregulation and

entrepreneurial management approaches (1990s); while the literature regarding privatisation

and commercialisation of airports in Australian may be regarded as contemporary concerns

(2000s). While this assembly of Australian airport literature is a significant outcome alone, it

also serves to demonstrate and evidence the compartmentalisation of research considerations.

In reality the modern airport, as a mixed use activity centre, requires a more complex and multi-

faceted approach.



Three normative theories of airport and regional development, as activity centres develop the

model of the airport in a context that extends it beyond simply air traffic control. The ‘aviapolis,’

as the marketing and development of aviation orientated business hubs; the ‘airfront’, as the

collection of aviation related industries and services within an airport hinterland; and the

aerotropolis, the transport and industrial / aviation complex servicing ‘just-in-time’ logistics.

Significantly the research highlights that while these models acknowledge change; they are

largely economistic conceptualisations and lack an explicit acknowledgment of the wider urban

system.

This review of the literature sets the foundation, and demonstrates the need, for a broader and

as yet unrecognised consideration of airport impacts. An integrated means for understanding

and interpreting the changing role of the airport in Australia is required. Here the research

argues for a new conceptualisation of the modern airport which will acknowledge the range of

local, national and international impacts, allowing all stakeholders to better understand and

manage airport and regional conflict and opportunity.

Chapter 3: Airport city developments in Australia: land use classification and 8.1.2analyses

The changing role of modern airports is identified from the literature review. Also

acknowledged is the significance of on-airport land use and development in facilitating that

change at Australian privatised airports. As such this research undertakes an examination of the

land use planning intentions of Australian privatised airports. There is anecdotal evidence that

suggests airports across Australia are planning for significant on-airport development and are

embracing the normative development of ‘airport cities’.

The aim of this research is to empirically establish the on-airport land use planning intentions of

Australian privatised airports through the analysis of their legislatively required master plans.

The conceptual and methodological significance of this study is the development of a national

land use classification for on-airport development. For the first time it is possible to undertake

comparative on-airport land use analyses across the range of Australian airport contexts.

The outcome of the research provides on-airport land use classifications and evaluations of

development intent. This allows a clearer understanding of the extent to which Australian

airports are advancing as multi-use activity centres. This work and its findings are significant as



it enables recognition of airport land use and establishes a substantive basis for broader

airport-region dialogue.

There are 22 privatised airports in Australia, of which 20 are required to produce master plan

documents; these airports constitute the study group for analysis. The aviation operations for

each is detailed - aircraft movements (where applicable also passenger and freight movements)

for the previous year - and they are also classified into their ‘type’ (regular passenger transport

(RPT), general aviation (GA) and pilot training (PT) or any combination).

Utilising an international classification system for the remote sensing of urban land use - United

States Geological Surveys (USGS) Modified Anderson Classification System, it is possible to

establish on-airport land use classifications. The land use information from the airport master

plans is then digitised into a geographic information system (GIS) and converted into polygon

feature classes. It is then possible to calculate the percentage of total area for each zoning

category. A measure of each airports landside development intention is compared as a value of

standard deviation from the mean. While the results are interesting in providing an overview of

development intention there is limited statistical correlation between airports in terms of

landside development and airport area, or landside development and passenger or aircraft

movements. This is not unexpected in consideration of the complexities of the surrounding

urban development and the presence of regional drivers for on airport development.

Significantly however it is noted that all of the airports in the study group have zoned their land

assets with capitalisation of landside development in mind.

Through the provision of a comparative platform for the analysis of on-airport development this

research offers airport and municipal planners a national benchmark and land use

interpretation method for determining the relationship between aeronautical function (RPT,

GA, PT) and on-airport land use planning intention.

The research establishes that Australian airports are seeking to invest significantly in both

airside and landside infrastructure and development. While there has been ad hoc analysis and

media attention of high profile airport and regional conflict, there was, until now, limited

recognition of the extent to which all privatised airports intended to develop towards the

normative theory of airport cities. This work allowed, for the first time, airport and regional

stakeholders the ability to comparatively recognise on-airport land use master planning in

Australia.



QUESTION 2: HOW CAN THE COMPLEXITY OF THE INTEGRATED AND 8.2RECIPROCAL AIRPORT AND REGIONAL IMPACTS BE CONCEPTUALISED TO ASSIST POLICY, PRACTICE AND RESEARCH?

Chapter 4: Airports in their urban settings: towards a conceptual model of 8.2.1interfaces in the Australian context

The research explores the emergent pressures reshaping the impact of Australian airports,

including significant economic shocks and environmental challenges. Despite these setbacks it is

clear that airports expect continued growth and profitability. The dominant driver of privatised

Australian airports is aeronautical and non-aeronautical development expansionism, assisted in

part by the legislative frameworks under which they are managed.

The research presents an overview of the Australian Federal Court challenge to this commercial

expansion, in what was widely considered a test case for airport development. The ensuing

airport victory ultimately reaffirmed and emboldened the capitalisation strategy of retail and

commercial on-airport development, and did little for the communicative and cooperative

planning relationships between airports and the region. Conversely in the examination of a long

running legal dispute between Village Building Company and Canberra Airport, the limitations

of airport influence on regional planning are highlighted.

The detailing of these airport and regional conflicts highlight the fragmented decision-making of

land use planning when neoliberal imperatives shift airport management from public good to

shareholder concern. It is clear within this research that the public private divide is indeed a

contributing factor in the breakdown in communicative and collaborative planning

relationships.

The research presents a range of new and significant interdependencies for stakeholder

consideration in acknowledgment of airports as multi-functional activity centres in Australia:

• Understanding the catchments and catalysts for industrial, commercial and residential development within airport regions.

• Compatibility of land uses through policy and plans recognising the motivation of all stakeholders and the needs of the broader community.

• Regional direct, indirect and catalytic economic impacts and dependence.

• Recognising and understanding expectations of immediacy and equity in the delivery of goods, services and people.



• Managing the strategic, financial, compliance, economic and operational risks associated with airport and regional relationships.

• Understanding the impacts and trade-offs of increasingly shared decision making through public and private sector partnerships.

• Coordination of three tiers of government policy in consideration of community needs and expectation.

Within the complexity around airports, the airport metropolis interface model is presented as a

conceptual framework for research and policy. This model is established as an integrative

model which recognises and attempts to understand the nature and importance of national,

regional and local drivers of airport and regional growth and the need for sustainable balanced

development given new corporate, public, and institutional governance processes.

From a conceptual point of view the model is intended as a simple and robust device for

comprehending the complexity and planning of airport and regional development. It relies on

four ‘interface’ domains to capture the sophistication of the modern airport – economic

development, land use, infrastructure and governance. It is proposed that each interface may be

supported and refined through the application of five sustainability criteria – economic

efficiency, environment, coordination, community and security. This framework is significant as

it seeks to deliver a normative understanding of the planning and development of both

established and evolving airports in Australia. It is offered as a way forward in collaboration,

and provides a necessary focus and structure for airport and regional stakeholder appraisal and

discourse around the shared and reciprocal interfaces.

The methodological significance of this construct cannot be understated, as it is this conceptual

model, developed with co-authors, that became the focus for a 4 year, $AUD4 million dollar

Australian Research Council's Linkage Project: ‘The Airport Metropolis: Managing the

Interfaces’ (LP0775225). The advancement of the framework is a significant theoretical

knowledge claim of this thesis.

Significantly the development of the framework has been supported by airport and regional

decision-makers at three case study land use forums in 2008. This model presents a consistent

framework to better apprehend airport and regional management, administration and

communication. This model has the ability to explore and interpret those aspects of airport and

regional development which are universally shared and interdependent.

The significance of the airport and regional planning research to date was affirmed when the

federal government called for submissions to an ‘Issues Paper’ for the development of a



National Aviation Policy in 2008. In doing so the Government acknowledged for the first time

the economic, safety, security and environmental issues enveloping aviation globally, and

significantly the disquiet from local, state and territory governments; the wider community; and

the airports around issues of land use planning.

Chapter 5: Managing airport land development under regulatory uncertainty 8.2.2

The development of a national aviation policy during the timeframe of this doctoral research

highlights the significance of the research undertaking. Here the research seeks to explore

airport managerial perceptions of, reactions to and engagements with the policy review process

and the accompanied uncertainty it brings.

The research outlines the context for the changing role of airports from mono-functional

providers of air transport infrastructure, to multi-functional marketing enterprises. It highlights

that the rise of the airport as a business has not been without risk and susceptibility to political

interference and re-regulation. Regulatory uncertainty, it is argued, adds to the already sizeable

airport risk management burden, which includes the challenge of planning for aviation and the

uncertainty of the commercial property markets.

In a clear statement of intent the Commonwealth Minister for Infrastructure and Transport

confirmed, ‘Significant reforms are needed to get the balance right between the need for ongoing

investment in aviation infrastructure, community consultation and the integration of airport

planning with local, state, and territory planning regimes’ (Albanese 2010 in Freestone et al.

2011 p 104). In light of the established research and airport metropolis framework, this

statement and the aviation policy review process are noteworthy indicators of research

significance.

Four significant findings are established from this research with respect to the evolution of

airport planning and the communicative nature of airport and regional development. First,

while airports have been privatised there continues to be significant government involvement

in the oversight roles. Secondly, this ‘management’ has led to the recognition, by the airports at

least, that the planning and consultation for the master plan is an ongoing, almost permanent

process. Thirdly, there is resistance by national politicians to recognise modern airports as

multi-functional; they are still largely identified and measured by their core aviation role. Lastly

and most importantly, is the greater commitment expected for cooperative and collaborative



off- airport planning, a direction which is necessary, but requires reciprocation by the

surrounding urban and regional stakeholders.

QUESTION 3: WHAT ARE THE AIRPORT AND REGIONAL STAKEHOLDER 8.3PERSPECTIVES WITH REGARD TO THE POTENTIAL CONFLICTS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN THE ESTABLISHING COLLABORATIVE AND COOPERATIVE LAND USE PLANNING?

Chapter 6: Land use conflict across the airport fence: competing urban policy, 8.3.1planning and priority in Australia

Following from the development of the airport metropolis conceptual framework, and in

parallel with the national aviation policy review, three Australian case studies (Brisbane,

Adelaide, and Canberra) are examined to detail the context of airport and regional land use

planning.

Here the interface framework is applied for the purposes of research as an organising device

and the land use interface is placed as the central circumstance in consideration of the interface

areas of governance, economic development and infrastructure. Additionally ‘environment’ is

included for the determination of the social and biophysical aspects of land use planning.

The methodological approach of Land Use Forums is utilised as a communicative and

collaborative approach to bring stakeholders together. As such it is important for this research

to incorporate the views of a broad range of stakeholders beyond airport and regional

government decision-makers. An important indicator of the significance of this research was the

strong attendance by the range of stakeholders. Over 120 representatives from airports, airport

industries, academia, business representatives, government stakeholders, senior policy

analysts, and urban planners, spent a full day contributing and participating in the research.

The forums allowed for all stakeholders to actively participate in the research process and

express their views in a facilitated forum. With land use as the focus the results of the round

table discussions are integrated, yet distinct. As anticipated the use of the conceptual

framework is valuable in its ability to provide clear structure while acknowledging

interdependencies.

The inductive thematic analysis identified common themes across the three case study regions

around the interface domains.



Land Use & Governance

Land Use & Environment

Land Use & Economic Development

Land Use & Infrastructure

• legislation limits consultation

• Divergent planning processes and priority.

• Inter-jurisdictional fragmentation in decision-making

• Independent scope of environmental parameters

• Inadequate mechanisms for improved land use planning

• Limited acknowledgment of reciprocal economic impacts.

• Disputed impacts on transport infrastructures

• Inadequate coordination of infrastructure delivery

The identification of these airport metropolis interface themes is a significant finding from the

research. It is these issues which are holding back cooperative and communicative airport and

regional land use planning. Further analysis of these outcomes, in recognition of their inherent

dependencies as interfaces, has revealed that three principal concerns contribute to the

fragmentation of airport and regional land use planning:




Chapter 7: Stakeholder perspectives on airport and regional land use 8.3.2planning

This research continues to build on the outcomes of previous work, but here presents a finer

grained analysis of airport and regional land use planning. The fragmentary themes are

reconceptualised and recognised as being a result of and contributing to airport and regional

land use planning 1) relationships, 2) processes, and 3) outcomes.

The research utilises a series of semi-structured interviews to secure airport and local, state and

territory government stakeholders’ perspectives and perceptions on land use planning within

the three case study regions of Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra.

When considering the current processes for airport and regional land use planning, regional

stakeholders universally agree it is failing to deliver coordinated, integrated and compatible

land use. Conversely airport stakeholders are, in the main, satisfied with the current legislative

mechanisms for airport and regional planning and development. They do however contend that



the federal government is seeking to micro-manage on-airport development processes and are

frustrated that the onus for change in land use planning relationships, processes and outcomes

is largely directed at them, with limited regional acknowledgement of shared responsibility.

The research indicates that the federal government increasingly requires airports to undertake

community and stakeholder consultation in an attempt to improve land use planning processes

and outcomes. However it is also recognised that this increasing communicative task has the

potential to result in sub optimal outcomes as the airports meet only designated consultative

requirements.

The research also reveals that the local, state and territory governments largely rely on the

airports for communicative inclusion and are rarely proactive in facilitating broader industry or

cooperative inter-governmental dialogue. To this end, it is acknowledged that airport facilitated

government ‘one stop shops’ for airport and regional consultation are resulting in compromised

positions from some government stakeholders.

In discussion the research presents 4 significant concerns, first – the increasingly prescriptive

communicative turn leaves very little room stakeholder negotiation and may lead to compliancy

consultation only. Second, airports are effective and efficient communicators and recognise the

value in maintaining critical community and industry connections. Third, land use planning

relationships, processes and outcomes may become defined by the negotiation of agreements,

and finally effective communication does have the potential to deliver better airport and

regional land use planning.

Land Use Planning and the Airport Metropolis (2012) 8.3.3

Since the inception of this thesis project there has been some seemingly significant changes to

airport and regional land use planning process and policy. Importantly the National Aviation

Policy processes (2008 -2009) identified the growing tension around the issue and sought to

focus on the consultative mechanisms used to articulate stakeholder positions. Consequently

the Australian Government has provided both formal guidance and enacted legislation as a

means to build better communicative process in the hope of facilitating broader airport and

regional cooperative action on land use planning. The formalisation and clarification of both

stakeholder relationships and communicative responsibilities has assisted decision-makers in

better identifying and articulating their roles and intentions in airport and regional land use

planning, however many of the issues at the heart of the problem remain. In 2012 it is still



apparent that the future of airport master planning and surrounding urban policy coordination

lie within negotiated understanding and agreement beyond statutory and legislative

frameworks. The lack of genuine strategic and long term land use planning cooperation

between airports and the surrounding local, state and territory governments continues to be at

the root of ongoing incompatible land use planning and development.

On a more positive note, it is clear all stakeholders are learning from mistakes of the past.

Airports are less combative in the protection of their economic assets, while surrounding local

governments are also increasingly comfortable with the changing role of airports. Over time, as

issues of economic, environmental, and social responsibility and liability are resolved, the

airports are increasingly recognised and appreciated as regional and national assets, and

significant centres of local economic activity. After up to 15 years of Australian airport

privatisation there is a broader sense of familiarity with land use planning arrangements and

expectations between airports and the adjacent municipalities. Further, much of what is able to

be planned on airport is already outlined, and largely debated, in previous and present master

plan documents. There remains little of the development ‘shock’ that occurred in the years

immediately following privatisation.

Legislative Update (2012)


reporting requirements and planning guidelines for airports. The Commonwealth Airports

Amendment Act 201014 commenced operation on 18 December 2010. The Act includes a new

Major Development Plan ‘trigger’ that is activated by any development on leased federal airport

land that is likely to have a significant impact on the local or regional community, regardless of

size or cost (the ‘community impact trigger’). The purpose of this document is to provide

greater detail on development factors that may require the consultation and scrutiny of a Major

Development Plan process as a result of the new community impact trigger. In January 2012 the

Department of Transport and Infrastructure released ‘Significant Impact on the Local or

Regional Community Guide’ (Australian Government 2012). This guide is intended to provide

information to both the public and industry stakeholders about whether a proposed on-airport

development ‘triggers the significant impact on the local or regional community clause, which is

s89 (1) (Na) of the Airports Act 1996’ (Australian Government 2012, p 2).

14 Previously referred to as the Airports Amendment Bill in Chapter 5



Also in January 2012 the Department released ‘Master Plan Amendments – Guidelines’

(Australian Government 2012a). This document provides airport operators with guidance on

fulfilling the new requirements for master plans within the Airports Act 1996, including:

• a ground transport plan – these detail the surface vehicle access plans with measures to

mitigate vehicle and traffic impacts.

• more detailed information on proposed developments for the next 5-year cycle – here

airports are encouraged to provide more detail within precincts to be used for non-

aviation purposes;

• incorporation of an environment strategy – previously the airport environment strategy

was a separate document, it is now annexed within the master plan document

(Australian Government 2012a p 2).

The advancement of these guidelines is a significant step which seeks to establish greater

airport and regional coordination, however the onus for change is largely legislated and

principally the responsibility of the airport. These prescribed consultative measures ignore the

underlying need for mutual and reciprocal cooperation and coordination around issues of

airport and regional land use planning and development.

International and Australian Growth in Aviation (2012)

In the Australian context the number of passenger movements through our international and

domestic airports is predicted to double to 279 million by 2030. That is, passenger numbers are

forecast to increase 3.7% a year from 135 million in 2011 (Australian Government 2012d). For

the case study airports this represents an annual growth rate of: Brisbane, 4.2% a year to 45.1

million in 2030; Adelaide, 3.1% a year to 13.5 million in 2030; and Canberra, 3.3% a year to 6.1

million in 2030 (Australian Government 2012d)

Internationally analysis by Airports Council International (ACI) predict year on year global

passenger growth rate of 4% between 2011 and 2027 (both international and domestic travel),

reaching 30 million passengers each day. These figures in fact represent a predicted slowing in

growth from 5% in 2012. The Asia Pacific market is expected to be the largest growth market

with a year on year increase of 6% up to 2027, boosted by the continuing growth of China and

India (ACI 2012; IATA 2012).



KNOWLEDGE CLAIMS AND IMPACT 8.4

The interfaces model 8.4.1

A key knowledge claim for this thesis is the development and proven application of the airport

metropolis interface model. It is a robust structure which assists researchers and policy makers

to better apprehend the potential conflict and opportunity between a region and any large

urban infrastructure installation. Significantly it is these urban anchors, such as airports, ports,

hospitals and universities, which are increasingly privatised or are developed as public private

partnerships. It is an integrative model which recognises and attempts to understand the nature

and importance of international, national, regional and local drivers of regional growth and the

need for sustainable balanced development.

The framework is useful because its primary application as four interfaces is uncomplicated, but

it remains a useful framework for the interpretation of complex systems. It is additionally

valuable because while each interface may be viewed in turn, the acknowledged interdependent

nature of the framework does not allow for the compartmentalisation of issues. It is also a

functional and communicative framework with the ability to assist multiple stakeholder groups

and multidisciplinary practices understand the opportunities and potential impacts between

and within these organisations. Within this context, it was actively applied for the research in

the Land Use Forums.

The application of the sustainability criteria may provide for a clearer interpretation of the

interactions that typify major infrastructure systems. The use of these criteria allows for

broader comparative analyses across a range of regional contexts and provides ongoing

frameworks for research, policy development and program review.

Citations for publications: 8.4.2

In considering the impact and knowledge contributions of a thesis by publication it is important

to acknowledge where these publications have been cited. The citation of published works is

considered a significant measure of academic contribution.

Stevens, Nicholas J., Baker, Douglas C., & Freestone, Robert (2010) Airports in their urban

settings: towards a conceptual model of interfaces in the Australian context. Journal of Transport

Geography, 18(2), pp. 276-284.



There have been 5 noteworthy citations for the above publication. Kevin O’Connor (2011 p

1057) recently canvassed the literature with regard to transport geography in Australasia, it

was noted that, ‘Airports are beginning to emerge as significant metropolitan nodes in their own

right’ (Stevens et al. 2010). Additionally Kivits et al. (2010 p 206) in their analysis of a post-

carbon aviation future, noted that the ‘largest positive externality of the airport is its influence

as an economic driver for the region(s) around the airport (Stevens et al. 2010) Stokes and Van

der Windt (2011 p 72) in their evaluation of linking sustainable planning and sustainable

development at Brisbane Airport cited that ‘interfaces between land uses and infrastructure on

and off airport and relations with adjoining stakeholders and local government are issues of

growing interest (Stevens et al. 2010). Hsu and Prosperi (2011 p 966) in an exploration of

polycentricity within metropolitan regions identified ‘a new urban form comprising aviation-

intensive businesses and related enterprises extending up to 25 km outward from major

airports –that has spawned another thread of clarifications and implications (Stevens, Baker &

Freestone 2010). Most significantly the Australian Government Productivity Commission (2011

p 499), in exploring development in proximity to airport land (and under flight paths), said that

‘amongst the major Australian airports the issue of coordination has been most problematic for

the Canberra airport (Stevens, Baker & Freestone 2010). Further they highlighted this research

publication in a case study analysis of the Tralee development in New South Wales (p 500) and

again when discussing Australian state government aviation-specific planning policies (p 500)

1. Australian Government (2011) Performance Benchmarking of Australian Business Regulation: Planning, Zoning and Development Assessments. Productivity Commission Research Report Volume 1. Commonwealth of Australia. April 2011. (http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/108840/planning-volume1.pdf)

2. Hsu, J. and Prosperi, D. (2011) The “Sprawl Repair Act”: Realizing Polycentricity in Metropolitan Spatial Structure. REAL CORP 2011, Tagungsband, Germany, May 18 – 20, pp 965 – 976. (http://programm.corp.at/cdrom2011/papers2011/CORP2011_91.pdf)

3. Kivits, R. Charles, M., Ryan N. (2010), A post-carbon aviation future: Airports and the

transition to a cleaner aviation sector. Futures, 42 (3) pp 199-211. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016328709001797)

4. O’Connor, K. (2011) Transport geography in Australasia. Journal of Transport Geography

19 1056 – 1058.

5. Stokes, R and Van der Windt, M (2011) Linking corporate sustainability planning and sustainable development at Brisbane Airport, Australia, International Journal of Aviation Management 1(20) pp.70 – 88.



(http://inderscience.metapress.com/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,5,8;journal,1,1;linkingpublicationresults,1:122212,1)

Walker, Arron R. & Stevens, Nicholas J. (2008) Airport city developments in Australia: land use

classification and analyses. In 10th TRAIL Congress and Knowledge Market, 14-15 October 2008,

Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

This publication work has also been cited by The Australian Government Productivity

Commission (2011a p 682). In the Commissions analysis of availability of airport sites for retail,

they produced ‘Table H3: Use of airport land for commercial purposes’. The data within this table

was sourced from and attributed to Walker and Stevens (2008).

1. Australian Government (2011a) Performance Benchmarking of Australian Business Regulation: Planning, Zoning and Development Assessments. Productivity Commission Research Report Volume 2. Commonwealth of Australia. April 2011 (http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/108857/planning-volume2.pdf)

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AIRPORT AND REGIONAL LAND USE PLANNING 8.5

Today despite the introduction of the National Aviation Policy and more than 20 subsequent

amendments to the Airports Act 1996, uncertainty and suspicion still remain around approaches

to airport and regional land use planning. It may be that changes which have improved the level

of certainty and indeed civility between stakeholders have evolved largely from more than a

decade of increasing familiarity with working at the interface of airport and regional planning

processes. In that time the boundaries and limitations of legislative frameworks and

stakeholder relations have been stretched, tested and increasingly codified, while most of the

catalytically contentious on-airport development has actually been planned, approved and

constructed. Relations have thawed, understandings have grown and a range of ad hoc and

incremental negotiations and agreements for financial arrangements and consultative efforts

have been effectively established largely outside of albeit informing maturing legislative

requirements.

Nevertheless, land use planning will continue to be a policy arena within which airport and

regional stakeholders and decision-makers will pitch their battles. The public and private divide

in decision-making, motivation and priority will ensure continued airport and regional

fragmentation. However through mutual recognition and agreed understanding of policy and



planning positions this thesis argues progress towards proactive and reciprocal economic

development, land use, infrastructure and governance benefit may be achieved.

The following recommendations are offered to assist land use planning relationships, process

and outcomes:

1. Within each airport region proactive spatial planning frameworks should be initiated

and facilitated by state and territory governments in recognition of the airport

metropolis. The coordination committees now required of capital city airports are a

positive step in this direction, although they are not necessarily spatially framed.

Development will be informed by cooperative responses from federal government

urban policy, state/territory government strategic planning, local government city

planning and airport master planning decision-makers and stakeholders. These context

driven agendas will include consideration of economic development, land use,

infrastructure and governance issues, impacts and implications.

The existence of the federal government urban policy: Our Cities, Our Future - A National

Urban Policy for a productive, sustainable and liveable future, is an important measure for

flagging the importance of coordinated action and consistency across the range of

decision-makers. It allows for a response to the impact that federally administered

airports have on the fabric and design of major Australian cities. Additionally this policy

is overseen by the Major Cities Unit and administered by the Department of

Infrastructure and Transport allowing for conceivable synergies with airport planning.

2. Through research, a clearer determination of compatible and incompatible airport and

regional development must be established. Again, recent federal transport initiatives are

exploring the need for closer regulation of land uses in conflict with aviation operations.

The wider context being endorsed here requires the identification of all forms of

development and land use that are reliant on, or support the aeronautical capacity and

aviation function of the airport (directly and indirectly) and also those developments

and uses that have the potential to inhibit the aviation integrity of an airport, both

directly and indirectly. This will provide the airport; all tiers of government; regional

commerce and industry; and the wider community with planning apparatus to best

leverage the economic development, land use, and infrastructure opportunities of the

airport.



3. In line with the advancement of proactive spatial frameworks (Recommendation 1) and

an understanding of compatible and incompatible development (Recommendation 2) a

means to enhance on-airport and regional development assessment is also required. As

such the final recommendation is for the establishment of collaborative arrangements

which will facilitate mutual stakeholder referral on development applications. This

would be a transparent cross-referral system whereby airport and regional

stakeholders are able to comment upon and make (formal) recommendations regarding

the negotiation of land use planning and development intentions of the other in

consideration of the airport metropolis.

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9APPENDIX 1 – RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS

Documents

Nicholas J. Stevens · The first publication of the thesis (Chapter 2) acknowledges that the changing role of airports demands the establishment of new models of airport planning