By Oliver Lee

Hume’s council will work to connect residents with employment opportunities at Melbourne Airport as it expands, with the airport planning to create an additional 37,000 positions in the process.

On January 31, the airport released its two main planning documents for the next 20 years, which include details on the development of a third runway.

This airport has chosen that once the plan has been approved by the federal government and a period of community consultation, the new runway will be built with a north-south orientation.

As well as increasing aircraft noise in the township of Bulla which lies immediately to the north, the Melbourne Airport terminal expects to receive an additional 29 million international passengers and 47 million domestic passengers annually by 2042. .

The airport’s draft master plan indicates that this increase in traffic will lead to the creation of thousands of additional jobs at the airport, particularly in transport, post and warehousing.

“The area generally has a higher unemployment rate than Greater Melbourne. The role of the airport as a local employment hub is therefore particularly important for the community,” the document states.

“Many jobs in this region, directly or indirectly, depend on the airport and its activities or benefit from the presence in the airport region. About 44% of the people who live in the local area also work there.

According to National Skills Commission data from June 2021, Hume had the highest unemployment rate (12.1%) of any local government area in North West Victoria.

This jobless figure is more than twice the state average of 4.1%.

Hume council’s director of planning and development, Michael Sharp, said the council will provide a bid to the airport during the current consultation period.

“Melbourne Airport and surrounding businesses are an important source of employment for Hume residents. We anticipate that residents will continue to take advantage of opportunities within the airport grounds as it grows, given its proximity and the demand for shift work as well as highly trained personnel,” said Mr. .Sharp.

“Securing employment for residents is a priority for the council and we will continue to connect residents to job seekers at the airport and businesses within the airport grounds as we move forward. its expansion, as part of our ongoing programs.”