THREE directors reportedly have resigned from the Peninsula Aero Club at Tyabb. They are Michael Brooks, Robert Parker and Rolfe Summerhayes.
Brooks was vice-president of the club, and both he and Parker were members of the safety committee. Summerhayes was on special projects.
PAC president Jack Vevers confirmed their departures, saying: “Yes they did resign.” However, he would not be drawn on the reasons why except to say the men had “different views on the [club’s] safety management system”.
“They wanted to do [things] one way and we wanted to do them another way,” he said.
Mr Vevers said the PAC was “following CASA’s (the Civil Aviation Safety Authority) recommendations”.
“They made their positions clear and left,” he said.
None of the trio could be contacted.
In another shake-up at the club, it is believed three other members of the safety committee have also resigned.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that talks being held between PAC and Mornington Peninsula Shire Council could head off a showdown between the two at Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearings scheduled for April (“Shire’s $32,000 payout to aero club” The News 23/2/21).
Shire CEO John Baker said regular meetings had always been held with PAC “and [the shire] will continue to do so in an effort to reach an agreement about the airfield and its operations”.
“At various times those meetings have included councillors and officers,” Mr Baker said, but did not respond when asked by The News to name councillors involved.
“Our goal in all our dealings with the club is to find a way to secure the long-term operation of the airfield while protecting the safety and amenity of residents,” he said.
“I’m confident that, by working together, we can achieve a balanced, fair and sustainable co-existence between the airfield operations and the local community.”
Stephen Taylor and Keith Platt
First published in the Western Port News – 17 March 2021
