RESIDENTS of Woodbridge spoke with CDC and Perth Airport staff members last Sunday about their respective data centre proposal and new airport runway project.

More than 30 Woodbridge residents attended alongside City of Swan councillors Ian Johnson and Sarah Howlett, and Midland MLA Steve Catania.

They joined the Woodbridge Ratepayer’s Association committee at the historic Woodbridge House for the annual local issues workshop.

Woodbridge resident Wayne Dierden said Perth Airport staff gave a presentation on the third runway extension to the airport and how it will affect residents.

“They fielded questions and concerns from the community around noise levels, and what can and can’t be done about it,” he said.

“Flight regulations determine the flight paths so they can’t flex that much.

“What they can do is adjust the frequency and address the noise issue through scheduling, but that’s just one option we were shown.”

A Perth Airport spokesperson said they were pleased to provide the community an overview of their passenger growth, role in the state economy and transformation underway at the airport to support the state’s growth.

“The presentation also outlined the third runway project’s history and how Perth Airport will support Airservices Australia to engage with communities on preliminary flight path designs next year,” they said.

“While the runway location has been set for a long time, the flight path design process is an opportunity to explore what routes, modes and measures can reduce noise impacts.”

Mr Dierden said CDC continued their engagement during the Sunday meeting with residents and attempted to address the concerns of the Woodbridge community.

“Whilst it is arguably a better proposal than the one recently withdrawn in Hazelmere, the consensus was that fundamental issue remains the same,” he said.

Mr Dierden said the proposed use-case, the water use and noise considerations that were made improved on the rejected proposal however the placement was still an important point of tension.

“It’s the wrong location for that sort and scale of development and it is not in line with the wishes of the local residents,” he said.

CDC has been holding ongoing community consultation since the new data centre was proposed in the City of Swan.

A CDC spokesperson said Sunday’s session was another opportunity for to listen to the community and better understand residents’ views.

“We appreciate residents recognising some of the ways our proposal differs, while also hearing the concerns raised about the proposed development,” they said.

“We are actively considering those concerns and will continue to engage with the community as the proposal progresses.”