Proposed new commercial flight paths for Newcastle Airport open for comment Myall Coast Port Stephens by News Of The Area - Modern Media - July 28, 2022 The proposed commercial flight path design for Newcastle Airport. Photo: supplied. COMMERCIAL flight paths are changing for Newcastle Airport and the community can now comment on the plans. Williamtown will be most affected. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au In line with recommendations of a Joint Aeronautical Study of Williamtown Airspace from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and RAAF, Airservices is working with Defence on new airspace and flight design for Williamtown. The proposed airspace design aims to improve the safety and efficiency of airspace operations by introducing new regulations to separate civilian and military aircraft. A spokesperson from Airservices said the proposed flight paths for Williamtown would result in a change to how some communities experience aircraft operations. “Where operationally safe, flight paths have been designed to minimise impacts to communities, particularly in relation to aircraft noise. “Where residential areas cannot be avoided, we have attempted to design the airspace so operations can be distributed and noise shared, and to avoid the most-populated areas where possible. “Noise impact assessments have been undertaken to identify the levels of aircraft noise that may potentially be experienced in different communities,” Airservices said. Following on from feedback gained during the early engagement phase in 2021, Airservices now has the proposed preliminary airspace design open for community consultation. A number of in-person community consolations are available, as well as online feedback forms. The community consultation sessions are as follows: Wednesday 27 July: Carrington Community Centre 4:30pm-7:30pm; Thursday 28 July: Raymond Terrace Senior Citizens Hall 10am-1pm; Thursday 28 July: Seaham Scout Hall 4:30pm-7:30pm; Friday 29 July: Kurri Kurri Senior Citizens Hall 4:30pm-7:30pm; Saturday 30 July: Pat Hughes Community Centre 9am-noon and; Saturday 30 July: Kilaben Bay Community Hall 2pm-5pm To register attendance, visit https://engage.airservicesaustralia.com/williamtown?tool=survey_tool#tool_tab Additionally, feedback can be submitted online at: https://engage.airservicesaustralia.com/williamtown?tool=qanda#tool_tab By Tara CAMPBELL The actual tracks for Port Stephens flights. Photo: supplied.