JULY 1954

The Leeton Chamber of Commerce wants to see the Narrandera Aerodrome lighted so that air services could land there at night and take off early the next morninq.

Tho proposal came up when members pointed out that the present schedule meant that business men had to spend a night in the city, whereas if they could leave early of a morning and return to Narrandera the same night, they could

do all their travelling and business in the one day.

The monthly meeting of the Chamber was read. Present at the meeting were Messrs F. Watson (deputy president) in the chair, J. Cassidy (secretary), M. Hardy (treasurer), D. Hughes. W. Farrell, K. Sutherland, O. Black, M. Knight and J. S. Palmer.

Apologies for non-attendance included one from the President, Mr J. Thurgate.

The following letter from the Hon H. L. Anthony, Minister for Civil Aviation, was read: 'I refer to your representations on behalf of the Secretary, Leeton Chamber of Commerce concerning the provision of night lighting for the aerodrome at Narrandera. You may recall that some time ago you approached me on the same subject on behalf of the Narrandera Chamber of Commerce and after the matter had been examined I wrote to you on November 23 1951, as follows:

“The policy of my Department with regard to night landing facilities is to provide permanent electric runway lighting only when justified by regular night schedules, or by special circumstances such as the use of the aerodrome as the regular alternate to a capital city aerodrome.

“When an aerodrome is used only occasionally at night ior delayed schedules or in emergencies, it is considered that portable oil flares which are already available at Narrandera are adequate to meet requirements.

“At Narrandera all the present schedules are timed to operate within daylight hours, and it is only on rare occasions that the aerodrome is required at night for a delayed flight.

“Permission was granted last year for aircraft to fiy between Wagga and Narrandera at night to enable a particular flight to be completed. So far as I am aware the Airline Companies have not expressed a desire to extend their hours of operation to include night landings at Narrandera.

“When this requirement exists, I will be pleased to give further consideration to the provision of permanent lighting facilities.

“Since that date my Department has kept operations in the Riverina district under continuous observation and no instances have arisen which would justify provision of additional facilities at Narrandera at present.

“I appreciate that residents of Leeton, Narrandera and the neighbouring district might prefer the times of departure and arrival to be changed. This is a matter for the operating companies concerned who have of course to integrate the requirements of a number of centres scattered through the district and to try to suit the convenience of the majority. In this regard I would point out that my Department has had no indication from the operators concerned of any desire to operate through Narrandera at night.

“You may rest assured that my Department will continue to maintain a close interest in the development of aviation throughout the district and that as soon as there is economic justification for an extension of services everything possible will be done to provide the facilities needed.

However, I must point out that my present study indicates that no such justification is likely to occur in the near future.

RADIO DIRECTION

AND BEARING

FINDING EQUIPMENT

The correspondence also included letters from the Narrandera Chamber of Commerce and the Narrandera Municipal Council. Both these bodies had received copies of the letters the Leeton Chamber of Commerce had sent to the Minister for Aviation.

Both these bodies had written to the Minister in support of the request. They also brought under notice that for some time past the Narrandera people have been asking for the provision of radio directional facilities at Narrandera.

The meeting decided to invite Mr W. Garner, who represents the air companies, to attend the next meeting of the Leeton Chamber of Commerce and explain the advantages of the Radio Direction and Bearing Finding Equipment.