This picture shows the location of the club house at the airport.

Since this picture was taken, further subdivision and development has occurred and at time of writing (Dec 2010) there are now more buildings in the subdivision in the foreground and a very large building is being erected just to the west of the club house area on the land formerly used by Helicopter Resources for parking helicopters.

The club leases a clubhouse and offices from the airport owner. Hangarage is rented for each individual aircraft in a common hangar together with various private owners.

Approach to Cambridge from the West, March 2010

Tenure at Cambridge

We have been very fortunate that the airport has been retained by owners who are committed to aviation but regrettably it is not necessarily something that we can bank on in the long term.

Our tenure at Cambridge is currently limited to a lease of 3 years expiring at the end of October 2013. We were offered a new lease with a period of 5 years and a possible extension of a further 5 years. The total outgoings for the new lease were more than double our current rental so we have stuck with our original lease for the time being because the increase would have put the club into a position of almost certain losses for several years totalling in the tens of thousands of dollars.  A  long term lease was not available so the option of further developing our club infrastructure for the long term and making up short term losses in future years was not practical.

The very large increase in rental and outgoings would have been primarily for the recovery of land tax and rates which have gone through the roof due to the airport land which we occupy being zoned commercial now that the airport is being partially subdivided, together with the substantial increases in land values in the area that have occurred in the last few years.

We had considered the option of purchasing 2 blocks in the prospective land release but I have been personally informed by the owner that there are only four blocks being released and 3 have been pre-sold. We would have required 2 blocks for our operations, so for the time being, this option is not open to us.

Our options at the end of the 3 year lease will be dependent on what the airport owner is prepared to offer, but there is no doubt that it will be at a very substantial increase in costs due to the high cost of land in the area now that it is being developed. A primary factor in the prevailing costs is that for land tax which is at a rate which can effectively cripple an organisation such as ours. The state government offers some relief to certain "sporting bodies" for land tax, but we are not classified as an approved sporting body, even though we are a not for profit organisation.

If at the end of the 3 years, a  suitable lease or purchase of land at Cambridge is not available or is unaffordable in the prevailing circumstances, we will need to move. In the next 2 1/2 years we will be investigating various options that might be available, including of course that of remaining at Cambridge.