NEWCASTLE councillors want more information about the goings-on at the airport, particularly around Astra Aerolab and the federal government's recently announced missile factory to be built in partnership with Norwegian firm Kongsberg.
Greens Cr Charlotte McCabe, who has been vocal about her views on earning revenue from weapons manufacturers at Williamtown, asked the council to hold off on deciding who will sit on Newcastle Airport boards until after a councillor briefing at the end of the month.
Instead, she has asked council staff to look at how the community could be consulted on the business model of Astra Aerolab within the first six months of the council's term.
"My position is that if Newcastle council is going to be part-owner of a business, in order to generate revenue for the council to spend in the local government area of Newcastle, that the means by which we generate that revenue must be in-line with our investment and borrowing policy," she said.
"It stipulates that we should not invest in companies that are involved with munitions manufacturing.
"This is not the direction that the Newcastle Airport board has gone with when they established Astra Aerolab."
Cr McCabe said the board has "specifically created" a precinct that accommodates for companies involved with Defence.
"Several of those companies are directly involved in manufacturing weapons, either in a different location or potentially with this Kongsberg facility in the actual location of the Astra Aerolab site," she said.
The federal government announced in August that it would spend $850 million on a new missile production and maintenance program based at Newcastle Airport.
The Hunter's soon-to-be-built missile factory is part of the Norwegian company's efforts to ramp up supply in the face of growing global demand.
According to the federal government, Kongsberg's Williamtown plant would cost about $200 million to build and employ about 100 people.
The factory will be built on land owned by Newcastle Airport, which is owned by Newcastle and Port Stephens councils.
The Newcastle Herald reported in February that the airport had lodged a development application for a $32 million workshop at Astra Aerolab for a "high-technology" aerospace contractor with almost 200 employees.
The airport won planning approval in August for two multi-tenanted buildings designed for small to medium enterprises, start-ups and education and training facilities.
A City of Newcastle chief executive report presented to councillors earlier this year said the council's investment policy did not apply to the airport, which was a separate entity controlled by a "majority independent" board.
Cr McCabe said she does not see it like that and believes revenue should not be generated in a way that is "outside" commitments the council has made to the community.
"I don't feel that the community has had an opportunity to make any comment on whether or not they felt the direction of this business was what they wanted, and so that's why I've also asked staff to inform councillors about an opportunity for some sort of consultation to occur at this point with the Newcastle community," she said.
"If there's an overwhelming response from the community of Newcastle that they really are happy with the Astra Aerolab and they really want council to continue down that line, then I'm obviously out of step with what my grassroots community wants.
"But if not, then I know that there is an issue and we need to just find some way of solving that, and I would be interested in exploring what those options are."
This week, councillors voted in favour of asking for a report from the Newcastle Airport board setting out its governance structures, including the difference between Newcastle and Port Stephens councils' shareholder nominees appointed to the six boards.
A lord mayoral minute put forward this week made it clear Cr Ross Kerridge intends to put any director's fees he would earn if appointed to the boards towards a charitable purpose.
That decision will be made at the next council meeting after the briefing at the airport on October 24.
A City of Newcastle spokesman said the board consists of ten directors, with the shareholders each providing two directors.
"There are two companies, Newcastle Airport Pty Ltd and Greater Newcastle Aerotropolis Pty Ltd. The boards feature identical director representation," he said.
"While the shareholding for each council is identical, it is up to each council to determine its shareholding representatives. Port Stephens Council has historically nominated both the mayor and deputy mayor to its overarching shareholding boards."
Councillors have asked for an update on approved and pending development applications on the Astra Aerolab site, particularly the Kongsberg facility.
Council staff have been asked to provide information about the previous consultation process with the elected council and community about the establishment of the Astra Aerolab precinct.
A council spokesman said Astra Aerolab is a key part of the airport's 2018 masterplan and was extensively promoted by the airport then.
"Our councillors were first briefed on the concept of Astra Aerolab on 7 November 2017," he said.
"A second councillor briefing occurred on April 10, 2018.
"On May 1, 2018 the elected council approved the airport to purchase 76 hectares of adjacent land to support the development of Astra Aerolab."
A report to the council at the time said a "secondary use" was the potential development of a business park focused on supporting the RAAF base and broader defence, aerospace and advanced manufacturing activities.
The council spokesman said staff have already met to consider the council's request to undertake community consultation on Astra Aerolab.
He said staff believe six months is a "reasonable timeframe" to secure funding for the unbudgeted project and to plan, develop, undertake it and report back to the council and community.
The airport is located wholly within the Port Stephens local government area, meaning DAs for the airport are not listed on City of Newcastle's website.
