The two old navigational towers at the Narromine Aerodrome have become the subjects of debate as the shire council and museum committee decide whether to keep them for historical significance.
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Aviation Museum committee member Peter Kierath put forward the argument to keep the 10-12m tall towers to the Narromine Shire Council.
“The towers are a vital part of the parade ground. They’ve been there many years,” he said. “It’s easy to pull historic things down but we really ask you to consider what’s going on.”
Mr Kierath asked why the towers could not be used as a wifi area for the town.
The council has resolved to study the issue with another report to be presented to an extraordinary meeting.
The towers were part of a national aircraft navigational system installed by Air Services Australia in the 1940s and ’50s. They are obsolete with planes now using GPS technology and Air Services is removing the network.
Narromine has few historical assets, they need to be protected.
- Peter Kierath, Narromine Aviation Museum.
Councillors were divided on what do to.
Director of Corporate and Community Services Vas Roberts questioned whether the entire towers would need to be kept.
“Are they really of historic value? If yes, council must think about retaining them. If no, council can decide to keep the transmitter (box),” she said.
Mrs Roberts said there would be a cost involved with keeping the towers.
Cr James Craft agreed with the suggestion to keep the top five metres of the towers in the museum.
“Therefore it still has the link to the training route,” he said.
Cr Lyn Jablonski said the museum had some concerns with having the towers pulled down.
Cr Rob McCutcheon said there should be community consultation.
“We don't have all the material to make this decision, we only have information from the staff and we said we were going to be more consultative with the community,” he said.
“We also were going to look at not keeping so many assets because of cost,” Deputy mayor Cr Dawn Collins said.
Grace Ryan
Deputy Editor at the Central Western Daily, Orange. You'll mostly find me tinkering in social media and newsletters. Working hard to get our stories in front of your eyes.
Deputy Editor at the Central Western Daily, Orange. You'll mostly find me tinkering in social media and newsletters. Working hard to get our stories in front of your eyes.
