Shire of Derby West-Kimberley looks to offload costly Fitzroy Crossing Airport to State Government

The Shire of Derby-West Kimberley will seek to hand financial responsibility for the Fitzroy Crossing airport to the State Government in a move they say is needed to ensure it remains operational. Unanimously passed at Thursday’s council meeting, the Shire will ask the State Government to fund asset management of the airport through a reimbursement mechanism, with the Shire maintaining operational and management responsibilities. Speaking to the Broome Advertiser, Shire of Derby-West Kimberley president Geoff Haerewa said the move was necessary for the financial sustainability of the local government. “It basically comes down to the fact this airport is costing the Shire a lot of money to run, when we barely get any revenue from the facility or the town,” he said. “About 33 per cent of properties in Fitzroy Crossing have exemptions from paying local government rates — this includes government, Aboriginal and charitable institutes which own property in the area. “This has meant the organisations which are not required to pay rates are the very ones who are using the airport the most, with ratepayers forced to foot the bill.” The Shire estimates some $600,000 in rates revenue is foregone due to municipal rates exemptions, while in 2020, the Fitzroy airport cost the Shire $420,000. The move is the latest in a series of decisions aimed at addressing the unhealthy financial situation of the Shire, with the Shire in 2019 ranked the 14th least financially healthy local government area in WA. It comes after the Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley in November voted in favour of offloading several significant roads, as it struggles to fund repair and maintenance work across the 120,000sqm local government area. The Shire operates three airports at a combined cost of $2.7m per annum, or almost 30 per cent of the Shire’s rates revenue. An officer’s report to the council said if financial support from other levels of government could not be achieved, there may be no other option but to close the airport. The Shire plans to investigate similar options for its other two airports, Derby and Curtin.