$500,000 awarded for upgrade of Learmonth Airport under RAD scheme

9/12/98

Transport Minister Murray Criddle said today that $500,000 had been awarded to the Shire of Exmouth for the upgrade of Learmonth Airport under the Regional Airport Development Scheme.

"The grant will be used for civil works relating to the extension and construction of new taxiways and an apron for parking aircraft," Mr Criddle said.

The Minister said the grant was part of the Coalition Government's commitment to ensure that regional airports were developed and maintained to support tourism, achieve regional development objectives and met the reasonable demands of the community.

"This scheme has significantly contributed to regional airport infrastructure since its inception some years ago," he said.

The scheme was the first in Australia and has since been copied by Queensland and South Australia.

"This money allocated for the Learmonth Shire will help complement the work on the new terminal which is to be funded through the Exmouth Development Trust Fund," he said.

Mr Criddle said the Learmonth project was one of 17 projects State-wide that received grants under the Scheme.

The 1998-99 grant allocation was $2 million. There were 31 new or re-submitted projects totalling $21 million in infrastructure of which $8.5 million was directly for RADS assistance.

Media contact: Doug Cunningham 9321 7333