Here we go again !

The Federal Transport and Infrastructure minister, Anthony Albanese has announced a new " Scoping Study " to examine the suitability of Wilton as the site for Sydney's second major airport.   No costings have been given, but if it follows the usual pattern it will run to millions of dollars.

Surely the airport question and the surveys that have repeatedly examined sites in the Sydney basin have been done to death.  These past surveys are gathering dust in some bureaucratic pigeon hole simply because they didn't deliver the answer the government wanted.   It seems that the dark art of politics is to keep asking the same question - until by way of sheer exhaustion you get the answer that pleases.

It is suggested that this survey will run for six months and that it will allow for wide " community consultation ".    That in itself seems to be a bit of a joke !    It is a classical case of the NIMBY syndrome.   The people who live even remotely near Wilton do not want a noisy, smelly airport dumped on their doorstep and the rest of the state population just wants the government to get on with the job and make a decision - and start building the airport that will alleviate the over crowding that is making Mascot an unpleasant travelling experience.

There is simply a single basic question to be decided.   Do we build a new airport in close proximity to the city of Sydney, or do we site it as far away as Goulburn and connect it to Sydney by a very fast train service ?

Both present numerous advantages - and disadvantages, and either will bring costs measured in billions of dollars to reach completion.   The main reason that a decision has been constantly postponed - is politics.
Siting an airport risks affecting the voting pattern of vast numbers of people and those of both political persuasions fear a voting backlash if they make the wrong decision.

So - here we go again !   Another survey in the vain hope that somehow a miracle will happen and we achieve consensus to allow a site to be finally chosen that pleases the majority of voters.