Sean Cunningham, Narrandera Argus

The decision to keep Lockhart Airstrip opened has proved to be a good one with a group of workers regularly toiling hard to maintain it.

Early last year, Lockhart Shire Council was considering closing the airstrip, however after many submissions were received requesting council to reconsider its proposal, council agreed by resolution to continue with the lease of the airstrip.

Subsequently, a 355 Committee was formed to carry out the management and running of the airfield.

The committee’s President is Jackson Strong and the Secretary is Jim Morgan, who has been an aviator for 32 years.

“At the time, I rallied a fair few people to put in submissions when council was thinking of closing it and gave them some reasons why they should keep their asset,” Mr Morgan said.

“So, we convinced them to keep it and they wanted to form a 355 committee.”

Mr Morgan believes it has been a truly worthwhile exercise and the airstrip offers a valuable location for anyone whose plane “gets in trouble”.

He said it is a well-used venue, often much more than many people would think. Lockhart airstrip is located five kilometres from the Industrial Park.

“We had to keep it open because you never know when you’re going to have to put a plane down there,” Mr Morgan said.

“I was flying back from Tasmania in 2022 and couldn’t land at my place, but I managed to land at Lockhart.

“You just never know who is going to use the airstrip, Dick Smith flew in there when he opened the Bendigo Bank and I think it was some Collingwood players who flew up from Melbourne and landed there when they were attending a club night at Lockhart.

“I had a phone call from a bloke who asked what the airstrip was like because he was coming from Wagga and wanted to visit a dentist in Lockhart.

“I also had a farmer ask me about the airstrip because he wanted to get parts for machinery delivered there from Dubbo.

“Two helicopters were training pilots there just a few weeks ago.”

The committee has achieved quite a lot with a band of active volunteers.

“It was quite amazing to see the rollup of helpers at a recent working bee at the airstrip, there were 17 active volunteers who rallied to get things done,” Mr Morgan said.

“We’ve tidied up the clubhouse there and we got the septic system back up and running again – we gave the clubhouse a pressure wash and at least there’s a working toilet there now for anyone flying in.

“We’re also in the process of replacing the cone markers there. It all takes time, but we’re generally just trying to keep it tidy.”

Mr Morgan said previously unused hangars at the airstrip are now benefitting council.

“The hangars there are on Crown Land and there was a lot of junk in them, so we tidied that up and we’ve leased two of them,” he said.

“They were just sitting there doing nothing, but now council is getting some money from them.

“It just costs them (council) to maintain the airstrip which doesn’t cost a lot.

“We also gave the airstrip a light grading to smooth out the rough patches – it’s about 1200 metres long, so we’ve done about 800 or 900m.

“There’s two big firefighting tanks always full of water there, so it’s handy in the event of a big fire.”

The airstrip could be in for a bright future as Mr Morgan has been in discussion with a nearby aviation club, a group of aircraft owners, pilots and aviation enthusiasts.

“The John Smith Wagga Aero Club told us they would try to add us to their calendar,” Mr Morgan said.

The committee’s most recent event was a successful BBQ at the airstrip last Saturday. 

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 26 September 2024.