Myall Coast Chamber of Commerce and Tourism

09/02/2026

Have your say on the draft MidCoast Aquatics Strategy that will guide the improvements and maintenance of Council owned swimming assets for the next 10 years.

19/03/2025

💃 Sail Port Stephens Street Party is just 2 weeks away, and we can't wait! Join us for music, drinks, food and late night shopping in the streets of Nelson Bay as part of the Sail Port Stephens race series ⛵

Find out more on the Facebook event or our website ➡️ pscouncil.info/sps-2025

05/02/2025

26/01/2025

Attention dog owners. Let’s get behind this wonderful local business! and embark dog co

17/11/2024

Myall Coast Chamber of Commerce and Tourism had a representative attend MidCoast Council’s Taree Airport Strategy Study several weeks ago.
Taree is a certified airport with navigation instrument certification and runs air freight, aero medical, firefighting, air rescue, private aircraft and a flying club, but does not operate regular scheduled passenger services.
The airport is owned and operated by MidCoast Council and has a current operating deficit of $0.25 million which could worsen over time. Last year’s income was $172,000 versus operating expenses of $425,000
Driving to Sydney from Taree now takes 3.5 hours and flying from Taree to Sydney wouldn’t save much time. The Hexham Bridge Bypass project is now proceeding apace and, when completed, will save 30 minutes’ driving time on the Taree to Sydney trip, which will reduce driving time to 3 hours.
The Airport’s runway is in excellent condition and was recently resurfaced by Council. The registration numbers of planes departing the airport are currently recorded by a camera located on the entry access lane to the runway but there is no camera on the main runway to record details of planes landing.
Many training operators come to train new pilots in landing at Taree Airport because take offs and landings on the main runway (“circuits and bumps”) are not recorded by camera and hence this use of the airport is not being charged out to them.
Leasing and other costs at Taree Airport are very cheap compared to airports at Sydney, Newcastle, and Coffs Harbour. Taree Airport is an ideal location for training pilots as it has low volume usage and is close to Sydney and Newcastle.
There is potential for Taree Airport to become a regional firefighting hub. The airport was extremely busy during the 2019 bushfires and water tanker aircraft had to fly back to Richmond Airport in western Sydney during the fires to be refilled with water. Harrington at the mouth of the Manning River was almost burnt out because water tanker aircraft had to go down to Sydney to refill and just got back in time to save Harrington.
The Great Lakes area and national park land through to Port Stephens was not burnt in 2019 and, with 5 years’ extra growth since then, is “ready to go” in the event of major regional bushfires.
The airport would need a bulk water supply installed to refill water tankers but treated effluent from the nearby Taree sewage treatment plant could be provided to fight fires with. The main runway would need to be extended by a kilometre to allow large jet water bombing aircraft to land and be refilled there.