CANBERRA - Fears a jumbo jet could slam into a massive retail development planned for Sydney Airport have prompted the federal Government to knock back the proposal.
Transport Minister Mark Vaile yesterday announced the Government would not allow a planned 4ha retail and office precinct to be builton land at Australia's largest international airport.
"The proposal is right in the middle of Sydney Airport with three operating runways all around it," Vaile said.
"Given recent history, not in Australia but in Bangkok and in Toronto ... where aircraft have ended up when they've overshot the runway [is a concern] and the possibility of impact with buildings containing people that are not involved in aviation at all is still unresolved [in this case]."
A number of planes have overshot the runway at Toronto's Pearson International Airport and then fallen into Etobicoke Creek, which sits close to the runway.
And in 1999 a Qantas jumbo overshot the runway at Bangkok's international airport.
Sydney Airport chief executive Russell Balding said the company would consider submitting a new application to build a retail centre.
NSW Planning Minister Frank Sartor, who opposed the retail development because of the extra traffic it would attract to roads around the airport, welcomed Vaile's decision.
"The proposed mega mall would have brought traffic around the airport to a standstill," he said.
"We have also expressed serious concerns about the failure to fully assess the safety implications of locating a shopping centre near the end of Sydney's third runway."
