The NSW government will continue its opposition to a second international airport in Sydney despite reports that a site to the city’s west has emerged as a leading option under a joint federal-state study.
According to a report by News Limited, the Nepean option – covering Luddenham, Wallacia and Greendale – has pulled “streets ahead” of other options under consideration as part of the long delayed Sydney Basin Aviation Capacity Study, which is expected to be released early this year.
According to the report, the study will suggest that Sydney Airport is nearing capacity.
But NSW officials say Sydney Airport has the ability to grow to meet increasing demand. The airport’s planned terminal overhaul, announced last month, was widely seen as an effort to stave off a move toward a second airport.
Speaking to reporters in Sydney, NSW Planning and Infrastructure Minister Brad Hazzard said the federal government had not briefed him on the reported Napean option.
“But there is a very strong view in the NSW state government that a second airport will certainly not be happening in the Sydney basin, nor will it happen on the Central Coast,” he said, according to AAP.
