AUSTRALIA’S biggest gliding club is staying put at Benalla airport after deciding it needed more time if it was going to shift homes in response to a huge jump in rent.
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The Gliding Club of Victoria had discussed relocating to Wangaratta or Corowa instead of agreeing to a 566 per cent rise in hangar rental fees set by the Benalla Council.
But the club’s immediate past president John Switala said the deal, which sees rent rise from 75 cents per sq m to $5 per sq m, had been grudgingly accepted after being unveiled mid last year.
“We looked at Wangaratta and other places near Yarrawonga but to move a club of this size you can’t pick up sticks that quickly,” Mr Switala said.
“We’ve had to accept their offer because we haven’t been able to move that quickly and they were looking to repossess the hangars otherwise.”
Mr Switala said the five-year lease, which is to be officially by councillors this Wednesday night, would allow the club to consider its future over a longer timeframe.
However, he noted a move to Corowa would be difficult because it would cut-off access to Victorian government funding that has previously helped the club.
Mr Switala said the club felt it was being “gouged” for money by a council that he viewed as “very broke”.
“All we’re leasing is dirt (in the hangars),” he said.
“The farmer who farms the excess area of the airfield pays under two cents per square metre for his lease.
“There’s a hell of a difference between two cents per square metre and $5 per square metre for dirt.”
Benalla mayor Don Firth would not address Mr Switala’s budget claim.
“I say John Switala is not the president any more, he’s not on the management team,” Cr Firth said.
“I wouldn’t be commenting on his comments because I don’t believe he’s in the position to be making comments.”
Cr Firth believes relations with the club are harmonious, with the final terms of the lease, including the removal of a $2 per sq m development fee, having been determined sometime ago.
“We have negotiated a position that everybody’s happy with,” he said.
“There was argy-bargy but that’s all settled down, I think the gliding club are quite happy with where we are.”
However, Benalla Migrant Camp chairwoman Sabine Smyth has written to the council calling for new aeropark leases not to be signed before a conservation plan for the area is adopted in July.
The former camp sits near hangars and Ms Smyth believes borders between it and the aeropark need to be clearer in the leases as well as wording in relation to heritage obligations.
Cr Firth believes the airport masterplan addresses Ms Smyth’s concerns.
