Runway 30 - Approval of 2017 Flight Path
Dear Civil Aviation Safety Authority,
I request information under the Freedom of Information Act about your approval process for the 2017 Runway 12/30 flight paths at Hobart Airport, designed by Airservices Australia.
This request is prompted by concerns raised during a 2018 legal action by Advanced Electro Dynamics Pty Ltd and Fulham Pty Ltd against Airservices Australia, which questioned the adequacy of safety considerations and procedural adherence in the flight path implementation.
Specifically, I seek:
1. Correspondence between CASA and Airservices Australia regarding the approval of these flight paths.
2. Documentation on CASA's stance or actions related to the mentioned legal action.
The objective is to understand CASA's due diligence and role in ensuring the safety of these flight paths.
Thank you for your assistance.
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Terhorst
OFFICIAL
CASA Ref: F24/8772
Dear Mr Terhost,
I refer to your email of 10 March 2024, whereby you made a request for the
following documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI
Act):
I request information under the Freedom of Information Act about your
approval process for the 2017 Runway 12/30 flight paths at Hobart Airport,
designed by Airservices Australia.
Specifically, I seek:
1. Correspondence between CASA and Airservices Australia regarding the
approval of these flight paths.
2. Documentation on CASA's stance or actions related to the mentioned
legal action.
The objective is to understand CASA's due diligence and role in ensuring
the safety of these flight paths.
I acknowledge receipt of your request under the FOI Act. received your
request on 10 March 2024 and the 30-day statutory period for processing
your request commenced from the day after that date. You should therefore
expect a decision by COB Wednesday 10 April 2024. However, the period of
30 days may be extended if CASA needs to consult third parties or for
other reasons. CASA will advise you if this happens. Should the timeframe
be extended, you will be notified by CASA with the new due date. Your
above request has been assigned the reference number F24/8772, please use
this reference number in future correspondence relating to your above
request.
Clarification Required on your FOI Request
In order for CASA to process your above request, further information is
required. Information that would assist us in processing your request
would include providing:
o Date range of the correspondence requested
o Any further third parties involved in the matter
o Any further information you can provide to further specify the terms
of your request.
Could you please provide a response by COB Thursday 28 March 2024, in
order for CASA to continue processing your request?
You will be notified of any charges in relation to your request as soon as
possible, before we process any requested documents or impose a final
charge. CASA’s practice is to release documents in pdf format transmitted
via email to your nominated email address. Please advise if you wish a
different communication method – additional charges may apply.
Should CASA find any documents in relation to your above request, CASA has
the discretion to redact the names of staff under section 22 of the FOI
Act, unless you tell us otherwise.
When CASA has made a decision about your FOI request, we will send you a
letter explaining our decision and your review and appeal rights.
Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me at:
[1][CASA request email]
Kind regards,
Amy George
Freedom of Information Officer
Legal Advisory and Drafting
Legal, International and Regulatory Affairs Division
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
GPO Box 2005 CANBERRA ACT 2601
[2]www.casa.gov.au
[3][IMG][4][IMG][5][IMG][6][IMG]
CASA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, water and community.
We pay our respects to them and their cultures and to their elders past,
present and emerging.
IMPORTANT:
This email may contain confidential or legally privileged information and
may be protected by copyright. It remains the property of the Civil
Aviation Safety Authority and is meant only for use by the intended
recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender
immediately by reply email and delete all copies, together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[CASA request email]
2. http://www.casa.gov.au/
3. https://www.facebook.com/CivilAviationSa...
4. https://twitter.com/CASABriefing
5. https://www.linkedin.com/company/civil-a...
6. https://www.youtube.com/user/casabriefing
Dear Freedom Of Information,
The date range would be from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018.
The parties involved in the legal action were ADVANCED ELECTRO DYNAMICS PTY LTD & FULHAM PTY LTD vs AIRSERVICES AUSTRALIA.
The plaintiffs argue that Airservices Australia's flight path, which CASA approved, had safety issues. CASA would have been drawn into the case because it approved the allegedly unsafe flight path. CASA would have been aware of the case.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Terhorst
OFFICIAL
CASA Ref: F4/8772
Dear Mr Terhorst,
Thank you for your response providing CASA further information on your FOI request.
In processing your FOI request, CASA has been searching for any records and documents that fall within the scope of your request and within the date range of 1 January 2018 - 31 December 2018 (as noted in your below email). We have contacted various business areas who MAY hold information or documents in relation to your request. To continue processing your request, and complete thorough searches of our records, could you please provide us an extension of time til COB Wednesday 17 April 2024, to provide you a decision?
If we require further time, or if the time will extend due to other reasons such as third party consultations or charges, we will notify you of the due date.
I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this delay may cause, and I thank you for your patience during this time.
Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards,
Dear Freedom Of Information,
I am happy to wait until the 17th. This needs to be a hard deadline as we are preparing a submission to the Senate Inquiry on Aircraft Noise due soon after this.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Terhorst
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Terhorst,
Thank you for your prompt reply. I have notified the relevant business areas in relation to your response. We will endeavour to provide you a response by COB Wednesday 17 April 2024.
However, should there be any issues, we will notify you as soon as possible.
I appreciate your co-operation in this matter.
Kind regards,
Amy George
Freedom of Information Officer
Legal Advisory and Drafting
Legal, International and Regulatory Affairs Division
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
GPO Box 2005 CANBERRA ACT 2601
http://www.casa.gov.au/
CASA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, water and community.
We pay our respects to them and their cultures and to their elders past, present and emerging.
OFFICIAL
CASA Ref: F24/8772
Dear Mr Terhorst,
I refer to my email of 26 March 2024 (below) where I acknowledged your FOI
request and notified you that decision on your access request would be
provided to you by Wednesday 10 April 2024, provided the time period would
not be extended for various reasons.
On 8 April 2024, I corresponded with you asking for an extension of time
to provide our business areas enough time to retrieve any documents they
may hold in relation to your request, to which you agreed for an extension
of time til 17 April 2024.
CASA has located documents that fall within the scope of your request that
contains information relating to a third party(s). Due to this, CASA is
obligated to consult with the third party on any concerns or objections
that they may have on their information being released. In undertaking the
consultation process, the period of time is extended by 30 days in order
to provide the third party with sufficient time to provide a response and
in order for the FOI decision maker to review and make an informed
decision on the request.
For this reason, please be advised that a decision on your request will be
provided to you by COB Friday 17 May 2024.
I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your
patience during this time.
Kind regards,
Amy George
Freedom of Information Officer
Legal Advisory and Drafting
Legal, International and Regulatory Affairs Division
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
GPO Box 2005 CANBERRA ACT 2601
[1]www.casa.gov.au
[2][IMG][3][IMG][4][IMG][5][IMG]
CASA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, water and community.
We pay our respects to them and their cultures and to their elders past,
present and emerging.
From: Freedom Of Information <[CASA request email]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2024 10:44 AM
To: [FOI #11220 email]
Cc: Freedom Of Information <[CASA request email]>
Subject: Acknowledgement of your FOI Request: Further Clarification
Required - TERHOST, Andrew (F24/8772) [SEC=OFFICIAL]
OFFICIAL
CASA Ref: F24/8772
Dear Mr Terhost,
I refer to your email of 10 March 2024, whereby you made a request for the
following documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI
Act):
I request information under the Freedom of Information Act about your
approval process for the 2017 Runway 12/30 flight paths at Hobart Airport,
designed by Airservices Australia.
Specifically, I seek:
1. Correspondence between CASA and Airservices Australia regarding the
approval of these flight paths.
2. Documentation on CASA's stance or actions related to the mentioned
legal action.
The objective is to understand CASA's due diligence and role in ensuring
the safety of these flight paths.
I acknowledge receipt of your request under the FOI Act. received your
request on 10 March 2024 and the 30-day statutory period for processing
your request commenced from the day after that date. You should therefore
expect a decision by COB Wednesday 10 April 2024. However, the period of
30 days may be extended if CASA needs to consult third parties or for
other reasons. CASA will advise you if this happens. Should the timeframe
be extended, you will be notified by CASA with the new due date. Your
above request has been assigned the reference number F24/8772, please use
this reference number in future correspondence relating to your above
request.
Clarification Required on your FOI Request
In order for CASA to process your above request, further information is
required. Information that would assist us in processing your request
would include providing:
o Date range of the correspondence requested
o Any further third parties involved in the matter
o Any further information you can provide to further specify the terms
of your request.
Could you please provide a response by COB Thursday 28 March 2024, in
order for CASA to continue processing your request?
You will be notified of any charges in relation to your request as soon as
possible, before we process any requested documents or impose a final
charge. CASA’s practice is to release documents in pdf format transmitted
via email to your nominated email address. Please advise if you wish a
different communication method – additional charges may apply.
Should CASA find any documents in relation to your above request, CASA has
the discretion to redact the names of staff under section 22 of the FOI
Act, unless you tell us otherwise.
When CASA has made a decision about your FOI request, we will send you a
letter explaining our decision and your review and appeal rights.
Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me at:
[6][CASA request email]
Kind regards,
Amy George
Freedom of Information Officer
Legal Advisory and Drafting
Legal, International and Regulatory Affairs Division
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
GPO Box 2005 CANBERRA ACT 2601
[7]www.casa.gov.au
[8][IMG][9][IMG][10][IMG][11][IMG]
CASA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, water and community.
We pay our respects to them and their cultures and to their elders past,
present and emerging.
IMPORTANT:
This email may contain confidential or legally privileged information and
may be protected by copyright. It remains the property of the Civil
Aviation Safety Authority and is meant only for use by the intended
recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender
immediately by reply email and delete all copies, together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. http://www.casa.gov.au/
2. https://www.facebook.com/CivilAviationSa...
3. https://twitter.com/CASABriefing
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/civil-a...
5. https://www.youtube.com/user/casabriefing
6. mailto:[CASA request email]
7. http://www.casa.gov.au/
8. https://www.facebook.com/CivilAviationSa...
9. https://twitter.com/CASABriefing
10. https://www.linkedin.com/company/civil-a...
11. https://www.youtube.com/user/casabriefing
OFFICIAL
CASA Ref: F24/8772
Dear Mr Terhorst,
I refer to your email of 10 March 2024, requesting access to the following
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act):
I request information under the Freedom of Information Act about your
approval process for the 2017 Runway 12/30 flight paths at Hobart Airport,
designed by Airservices Australia.
This request is prompted by concerns raised during a 2018 legal action by
Advanced Electro Dynamics Pty Ltd and Fulham Pty Ltd against Airservices
Australia, which questioned the adequacy of safety considerations and
procedural adherence in the flight path implementation.
Specifically, I seek:
1. Correspondence between CASA and Airservices Australia regarding the
approval of these flight paths.
2. Documentation on CASA's stance or actions related to the mentioned
legal action.
The objective is to understand CASA's due diligence and role in ensuring
the safety of these flight paths.
Please find attached a s.29 Notice of Preliminary Charges letter as well
as a Schedule providing a detailed breakdown on the calculation of costs.
Please confirm by COB Monday 17 June 2024 as to whether you agree to pay
the charges.
Kind regards,
Amy George
Freedom of Information Officer
Legal Advisory and Drafting
Legal, International and Regulatory Affairs Division
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
GPO Box 2005 CANBERRA ACT 2601
[1]www.casa.gov.au
[2][IMG][3][IMG][4][IMG][5][IMG]
CASA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, water and community.
We pay our respects to them and their cultures and to their elders past,
present and emerging.
IMPORTANT:
This email may contain confidential or legally privileged information and
may be protected by copyright. It remains the property of the Civil
Aviation Safety Authority and is meant only for use by the intended
recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender
immediately by reply email and delete all copies, together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. http://www.casa.gov.au/
2. https://www.facebook.com/CivilAviationSa...
3. https://twitter.com/CASABriefing
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/civil-a...
5. https://www.youtube.com/user/casabriefing
Dear Ms. George
I am perplexed. After agreeing to give CASA two extensions to my original FOI request, you now want me to pay $78.33 for the privilege of open government.
Why did you not advise this at the beginning?
How did you calculate or arrive at this fee?
I acted in good faith and feel I am being poorly treated after generously agreeing to two extensions. Where is the generosity on CASA’s part? Please rethink your stance here. Charging a fee goes against the principles of open government.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Andrew Terhorst
OFFICIAL
CASA Ref: F24/8772
Dear Dr Terhorst,
I refer to your email of 17 May 2024 (below) and I apologise for the delay in responding.
I acknowledge there have been two instances where the processing time has been extended for your request. The initial extension of time to the 17 April 2024 was as agreed by you in response to CASA seeking additional time while CASA awaited responses from relevant business areas who were locating documents held in relation to your request. At that time, I notified you that CASA may require additional time due to other reasons such as third-party consultations or that we may notify applicable charges. This can only be ascertained by CASA once all documents are located and reviewed by the FOI officer.
It was clear once all documents were collated that third party consultation was required (s 27). CASA is not required to obtain an Applicant's permission or agreement to consult and must provide a third party a reasonable opportunity to make submissions against proposed release. The time to consult with a third party is extended automatically by 30 days in order to allow the third party to review the documents and resulted in the second extension to COB Friday 17 May 2024.
With regards to charges, CASA advised you when acknowledging your request by email (26 March 2024) that charges may be incurred to process your FOI request. The calculation of the charges is based on the time it takes to locate the documents, retrieve the documents, identify the relevant pages of the documents, identify any third parties whose information is located within the documents and the decision-making time. The breakdown of the calculation was provided to you in the email of 17 May 2024 which I have re-attached.
I acknowledge that the preliminary charges notification was sent on the decision due date and appreciate this may have been frustrating given the decision is not released until charges are addressed.
CASA routinely charges for requests for information that is not personal information and does so in accordance with s29 of the Act and the FOI Guidelines. In this respect, the charges in relation to your request have been upheld.
I note decision has been drafted and its release is subject to the following:
1. agree to pay the charge after which I will send you formal remittance advice and once paid will release the decision;
2. formally contend that the charges have been wrongly assessed, or should be reduced or not imposed. Guidance on formally making a contentions can be found under paragraph 4.1 of the FOI Guidelines and s 29 (1)(F0 of the FOI Act ; or
3. withdraw the request for access to the document concerned.
I hope the above response aides you in your queries, and please let me know whether you would like to agree to pay the charges, contend the charges or withdraw your request by COB FRIDAY 21 JUNE 2024.
I apologise for the delay and any inconvenience this may have caused and thank you for your patience.
Kind regards,
Amy George
Freedom of Information Officer
Legal Advisory and Drafting
Legal, International and Regulatory Affairs Division
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
GPO Box 2005 CANBERRA ACT 2601
http://www.casa.gov.au/
CASA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, water and community.
We pay our respects to them and their cultures and to their elders past, present and emerging.
Dear Freedom Of Information,
I will seek legal advice. Morally, I think it is wrong to charge citizens for this information. Obviously CASA is not a big fan of open government. Putting financial hurdles up to avoid public scrutiny reflects poorly on your organisation. It is a form of discrimination. Not everyone can afford to pay such fees. I suggest you speak to your Board and discuss the morality/ethics of this. Airservices Australia is amore open than CASA, and that says a lot.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Terhorst
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Terhorst,
Thank you for your prompt response.
Can you please confirm whether your below email should be considered as your formal response to the charges having been wrongly assessed, imposed or reduced? Or should we be expecting your formal response to charges by COB FRIDAY 21 JUNE 2024?
Please be advised that if your below email is to be considered as your formal response, CASA will provide you with a written notice on our decision to either impose, reduce or waive the charges within 30 days or earlier if practicable, as set out by the FOI Act and the Guidelines.
Bearing this in mind, you also can pay the deposit or the estimated charge whilst awaiting a decision on reduction or waiver of the estimated charge. This would require CASA to continue processing your FOI request while considering the application for reduction or waiver of the charge. If CASA makes the decision to reduce or waive charges, the deposit will either be reduced or refunded.
Kind regards,
Amy George
Freedom of Information Officer
Legal Advisory and Drafting
Legal, International and Regulatory Affairs Division
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
02 6217 1662
GPO Box 2005 CANBERRA ACT 2601
http://www.casa.gov.au/
CASA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, water and community.
We pay our respects to them and their cultures and to their elders past, present and emerging.
OFFICIAL
Dear Dr Terhorst,
I refer to your email of 13 June 2024, where you notified CASA that you will be seeking legal advice in relation to the processing of your FOI request.
Could you please confirm whether your response of 13 June 2024 should be considered as your formal response on charges having been wrongly assessed, imposed or reduced? Please bear in mind that when making your formal response you are required to provide reasons as to why CASA should waive or reduce charges in relation to your FOI request.
CASA will take your response into consideration and assess the fees based on the response you provide, and will provide you a written notice of our decision within 30 days or earlier (if practicable) as prescribed by the FOI Act and Guidelines.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any queries.
Kind regards,
Amy George
Freedom of Information Officer
Legal Advisory and Drafting
Legal, International and Regulatory Affairs Division
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
GPO Box 2005 CANBERRA ACT 2601
www.casa.gov.au
CASA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, water and community.
We pay our respects to them and their cultures and to their elders past, present and emerging.
Dear Freedom Of Information,
The community I represent lives in an economically disadvantaged region. We are fighting Airservices Australia over a flightpath they unilaterally imposed on us, which CASA approved, knowing full well that Airservices Australia has a tardy reputation concerning community engagement.
This flight path was implemented after a botched effort by Airservices Australia to implement a flight path over Dunalley, which CASA also approved. Airservices Australia was taken to court about the Dunalley flight path on safety grounds. Subsequent mediation likely inspired Airservices Australia to target my socially disadvantaged community instead.
We want to know what CASA knew about the court action and subsequent agreements, hence our FOI request. CASA approved the flight path we have to endure. My community has been battling Airservices Australia for years. We do not have disposable income to give to well-resourced agencies such as CASA and Airservices Australia. You are aware of the national cost-of-living crisis.
For this reason, we request that CASA waive all fees. You have done the work and can simply share information with us so we can understand the circumstances that led to my community's 100-fold increase in air traffic over our houses, with noise far above WHO guidelines.
Thanks.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Terhorst
OFFICIAL
CASA Ref: F24/8772
Dear Dr Terhorst,
I refer to your email of 19 June 2024, where you notified CASA of your
formal response requesting charges to be waived in your recent FOI
request, F24/8772.
Please be advised that CASA has taken your contentions into consideration,
and on this occasion have decided to waive charges.
In doing so, please find attached the FOI decision as well as the relevant
documents for release in your request, F24/8772.
Further details on waiving your charges can be found in the decision
letter as attached.
Kind regards,
Amy George
Freedom of Information Officer
Legal Advisory and Drafting
Legal, International and Regulatory Affairs Division
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
GPO Box 2005 CANBERRA ACT 2601
[1]www.casa.gov.au
[2][IMG][3][IMG][4][IMG][5][IMG]
CASA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout
Australia and their continuing connection to land, water and community.
We pay our respects to them and their cultures and to their elders past,
present and emerging.
IMPORTANT:
This email may contain confidential or legally privileged information and
may be protected by copyright. It remains the property of the Civil
Aviation Safety Authority and is meant only for use by the intended
recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender
immediately by reply email and delete all copies, together with any
attachments.
References
Visible links
1. http://www.casa.gov.au/
2. https://www.facebook.com/CivilAviationSa...
3. https://twitter.com/CASABriefing
4. https://www.linkedin.com/company/civil-a...
5. https://www.youtube.com/user/casabriefing
Dear Freedom Of Information,
Thank you for waiving the fee. This is much appreciated.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Terhorst