There’s a Lockheed L1049-F Super Constellation—arguably one of the most elegant aircraft ever built—sitting on the apron at Shellharbour Airport, about 100km south of downtown Sydney. She’s being prepared for a flight on April 6 when her four, 18-cylinder, Wright R3350-93A supercharged engines will hurl her 50-tonne weight down the 1819m runway and into the air. Shortly after take-off she’ll turn south-west towards Canberra where the Super Constellation—registration number VH-EAG and the last airworthy example in the world—will be the star attraction at this year’s Canberra Airport Open Day. She’ll be followed to the national capital by a Lockheed AP-3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft, two other submarine hunters—a Grumman S-2G Tracker and a Lockheed SP-2H Neptune—a Vietnam War-era De Havilland DHC-4 Caribou cargo plane, and a World War II-era Douglas C-47 Skytrain. They are among the 50 aircraft that make up the HARS Aviation Museum at the southern end of Shellharbour’s airport. But it’s not the work of the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society that is exercising the minds of the owners of the wartime former Royal Australian Air Force base, rather what happens to the 82-year-old facility next. ▲ The airport terminal had a $20-million upgrade in 2021. Now it needs bigger planes to service the region’s growing population. Main photo: Maverik Media The Shellharbour City Council believes the airport holds the key, not just to the future of the city, but to the Illawarra region and its growing population. So much so, it commissioned Melbourne-based L and R Consulting to prepare a 54-page draft Shellharbour Airport Master Plan, so the council could “better understand the current limitations created by the existing infrastructure in achieving the vision”. That vision? Well, while the NSW population grew 0.98 per cent in the 12 months to June, 2022, Shellharbour’s population grew 2.41 per cent—nearly 2½ times—for the same period. And it’s that population growth that led the Shellharbour Regional Economic Development Strategy (2023) and the Illawarra Regional Airport Strategic and Business Plan (2015) to conclude the airport has “the potential to create a vibrant business hub that contributes to regional economic development, tourism and employment”. Built for military flight training during the war, the airport was taken over in 1960 by the then Shellharbour Municipal Council under a permissive occupancy. Two years later it was fully transferred to the council under the so-called Commonwealth Aerodrome Local Ownership Plan. Shellharbour is one of about 300 municipalities across the country that own and operate airports. Today, Link Airways operates about 28 flights a week from Shellharbour to Melbourne’s Essendon Fields and Brisbane using 34-seat Saab 340B Plus aircraft.  ▲ A Boeing 737 in front of a Dash8-Q400. The current width of the runway does not allow that size of Boeing, but is suitable for the Canadian-built turbo-prop. The council wants to see bigger aircraft and more passengers. The question is, how much bigger? L and R Consulting’s report offers three scenarios, including “business as usual”—where the airport remains as it is. It’s the other two options that are of more interest to the council and the community, and could mean the number of flight operations at the airport will triple. One assessment says potential passengers could number 880,000 to 1.5 million a year, however, both those scenarios come with challenges. Under the second, aircraft such as the Boeing 717, the Fokker F100 or the Canadian-built Dash8-Q400—all capable of carrying up to 135 passengers—would be introduced. Airport security would need to be added to the terminal, but space for passenger and baggage screening facilities was included in a $20-million airport terminal upgrade in 2021. A third scenario envisages Airbus 320s or Boeing 737s, each capable of carrying more than 150 passengers, but it comes with a new set of issues. Part 139 of the Manual of Standards (Aerodromes) of 2019 demands those planes—known as Code Four aircraft—use a 150m-wide runway strip. Shellharbour’s strip width is 90m and widening that would need more land. “The airport has multiple physical constraints including large amounts of airport infrastructure, private land acquisitions and other obstacles that make it impractical and presently unachievable to create a 150m-wide runway strip in the short to medium term,” the consultants wrote. ▲ Shellharbour council’s Wayde Peterson says the region has Australia’s ninth biggest catchment area for an airport. The council executive director of business enterprises Wayde Peterson, under whose remit the airport sits, says he will wait for the feedback but agrees option two “is probably the sweet spot.”. “It seems to be the more realistic given that option three, those 150-plus seaters, will mean we need to look at quite significant infrastructure changes in the runway width that could possibly lead to land acquisitions and things like that,” he says. Peterson estimates that with the airport security, plus some work on the runway including strengthening the tarmac, the second option might cost about $20 million. The council will look for state and federal government funding. While the population of Shellharbour city is only about 78,000, NSW’s third biggest city, Wollongong, (after the Central Coast as a region) is just 18km to the north. L and R Consulting’s report says the airport’s catchment is bordered by Helensburgh (even further north), Ulladulla to the south and Moss Vale to the west.  In fact, a catchment study market assessment in June last year estimates the resident population of that area is about 483,000 people. And growing fast. “The region enjoys the enviable position of being Australia’s ninth largest catchment area for an airport,” Peterson says. ▲ Early infrastructure works are almost complete on a $700-million Shellharbour Hospital. “However, in terms of corresponding air passenger traffic, the airport ranks 75th in the country. Obviously that differential, that disparity, represents unrealised potential.” The council has already set aside 20,000sq m in the far south of the airport for an aviation business park. Zoned SP-1, the council is looking for interested commercial entities that have an air-related use to develop businesses. Petersen says they’ve already advertised for potential users and have some interest. Adam McGrath is managing director for Ray White real estate in Shellharbour. Currently managing about 1500 homes, he is well aware of the growth in the area.  “And that number grows at a rate of 150 homes year-on-year and has done so pretty consistently in the last three years, as a minimum,” he told  The Urban Developer . “Splitting blocks of land, townhouses, a lot of multi-density development…all of that style of stuff, and at any given time we would be lucky to have five houses available, that are vacant.” Rental vacancy is under 1 per cent. “It’s insane,” he says. ▲ A 270-berth boat harbour and marina—part of a $1.5-billion joint-venture between the council and Frasers Property—is among facilities adding appeal. The growth—estimated about 23 per cent in the 15 years to 2036—has not gone unnoticed. In October, 2021 a sports fishing boat motored into the Shell Cove Marina becoming the first boat to moor in the 270-berth boat harbour and marina, part of a $1.5-billion joint venture  between the Shellharbour council and real estate and property management giant Frasers Property. Peterson says, as the landowner, the council has a 30-year development deal with Frasers, which he describes as “probably the biggest of its kind in Australia”.  “It ’ s delivered over half-a-billion dollars’ worth of community assets,” he says. “Things like the harbour, parks, roads and infrastructure that the community uses in and around Shell Cove.” Elsewhere early works are almost complete on the $700-million Shellharbour Hospital, with the next phase of construction expected to begin later this year. The facility will boast expanded emergency services, surgical and mental health capacity, rehabilitation and aged-care support, and a new drug and alcohol unit plus renal dialysis. McGrath says Covid drove people to the NSW South Coast and the lifestyle has kept them there. ▲ The HARS Aviation Museum at the south of the airport attracts more than 60,000 visitors a year. The operators are after more hangar space. “We’ve got the ocean on the east side of the whole area and we’ve got the escarpment on the other side, which is full of national parks. Our beaches are some of the best in Australia. “It’s a pretty impressive area in which to live and visit and we’re pretty well covered with facilities here. “We just need a proper airport.” When Shellharbour’s Super Constellation, or Connie as she is known by all, lifts into the air on Saturday it will be HARS Aviation Museum president and chief pilot Bob De La Hunty at the controls. While the working museum has more than 60,000 visitors a year, De La Hunty says the organisation doesn’t have a position on which option best suits the city. It simply supports the council and its ambitions. “We ’ ve been waiting for this for a long time,” he says, “and it’s good to have it out there now, because it enables us to prepare and continue on our building program.” You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. Click here to learn more.
