Local councils chip in to upgrade Wheeler Airfield

The City of Mandurah and the Shire of Waroona approved unanimously to donate $20,000 each  to improve the existing infrastructure in the airfield for future bushfire suppression on Tuesday.

The Shire of Murray recently voted in support of allocating $50,000 to the works as part of their 2016/17 civil works program. 

City of Mandurah Hon Cr Riebeling said it was a step in the right direction and he was hoping to see more cooperation between local councils in the years to come.

The Wheeler Airfield has been used as a firefighting operation base since 1998 due to its central location close to Bunbury, Serpentine Airfield, Jandakot and Dwellingup.

The privately owned facility played a very active role during the Waroona fires in January, accommodating more than 440 aircraft movements which allowed for the supply of 1,209,600 litres of water to the fire areas. 

The upgrade would include a widening of the main runway as well as extending and surfacing the three existing runways with gravel, installing a bore and stationary Diesel pump water supply, enlarging the dam for water supply to double its volume, and installing a mobile crew room for the crew during firefighting operations among others.