Tamworth airport quarantine: Councillors Mark Rodda, Helen Tickle oppose quarantine proposal for Tamworth airport in council split

Three councillors have told the Leader they either flat-out don't support the idea, or were very skeptical.

It would take just two more to halt the idea for good.

Councillors Helen Tickle and Mark Rodda are both firmly against the idea, while councillor Charles Impey said he'd need to see more information before making a decision either way.

Cr Rodda was scathing of the idea, saying the city should not put its residents at risk to raise a few dollars.

He said he backed the idea of using Tamworth as a quarantine hub for travellers from non-hotspots like New Zealand, but not the UK or the US, or other high-risk regions.

READ MORE:

"We saw that example in Brisbane, how quickly the mutated COVID-19 strain spread to a cleaner, and then it immediately made Brisbane a hotspot. Why would we do that here?" he said.

"I don't believe ... we have the medical facilities and staff to be able to handle an outbreak if there was one. I'm sure that we've got the medical staff to deal with an individual case, but you see how quickly it spreads. I just think it's too much of a risk to put our residents at risk for a proposal just to fill a few beds at the flight centre.

"We'll get through this and we'll be able to get our flight centre going again and won't have to worry about things like this."

Cr Rodda said he'd spoken to over a dozen constituents and had found zero support for the idea.

He pointed out that Tamworth's hospital wasn't on the list of 11 facilities that would be the first to receive the vaccine to be distributed to frontline medical staff.

"We have to take the advice of our ratepayers and listen to the concerns of our ratepayers," he said.

"We simply cannot always go with our own gut feelings or ignore what the people are saying. They've got valid concerns about health. And as we're seeing, COVID-19 has mutated to more virulent strains.

"Most importantly we aren't an area considered for an immediate rollout of the vaccine either. We know the pecking order as far as health and government is concerned, and we know where we sit. We're pretty low in the scheme of things."

A Change.org petition against the proposed quarantine hub had garnered 483 signatures at deadline on Tuesday.

Councillor Helen Tickle told the Leader: "I would not be supportive of a quarantine station with travellers from COVID-19 hotspot countries."

And councillor Juanita Wilson refused to comment, except to reassure the community any quarantine proposal would have to go to a full, public council meeting.

Councillor Charles Impey said there were "a whole lot of questions I want answered" before he could sign off on the idea.

Want more local news? Subscribe to the Leader to read it here first

"What about the risks to members of families who live here, who are cleaners and chefs and maintenance people and gardeners and those sorts of people who work out there as regular staff members, who would then be put at risk by working in an space where there are large numbers of people - ie more than 100 - staying who have come from overseas hotspots. What are the risks to our community?

"I'm not sure whether those risks can be completely minimised or taken away. But I think that's a question that both myself and our community want to have answered."

The flight training school is owned by the community, he said, and any decision .

"I would have to see more information and detail in a report before making up my mind either way. But on the surface, I think there are a lot of risks, and I would hate to see anyone in our community put at risk simply because some Federal government somewhere thought it was a good idea to use the facility."

Several other councillors didn't get back to the Leader before deadline on Tuesday. There are nine councillors in the Tamworth Regional Council, so to pass a motion takes five votes.

Support the local news that keeps you informed - subscribe today.

Tamworth Mayor Col Murray told the Leader on Sunday the council is "actively" exploring opportunities to turn the International Flight Training Facility Tamworth into a quarantine hub.

Council is in negotiations with both state and federal governments, he said.

"The health and safety of the Tamworth region will remain a key priority for council and sit a at the forefront of any decisions made," he said.

MP Barnaby Joyce is a whole-hearted proponent of the potential plan.

Contacted on Monday, a spokesperson for Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt refused to answer a number of questions about the proposed hub, including whether the federal government was genuinely considering the idea.

"Mandatory quarantine measures are continually assessed by the Australian Health Protection Principle Committee," the spokesperson said.

"Each state and territory is responsible for managing the COVID-19 response under its own public health legislation, including quarantine."

On Friday, the NSW premier said the state government would not change their Sydney-based hotel quarantine system, but said the state government had been working with federal counterparts on the idea.

Have your say, send a letter to the editor.