News
14 May, 2025
Grounding concerns
MORETON Bay Council has denied claims it’s evicting a long-standing model plane flying club, saying the current lessees and local community are aware of their plans for the Griffin site.
As reported by The Sentinel last week, Moreton Bay Council is refusing to renew the land lease of popular model flying club Sports Aeromodellers Association Moreton Bay Region (SAAMBR) at Sid Bray Field, who have been there for over 30 years.
While the club still has access to their other flying facility in Burpengary, SAAMBR members claim it won’t be suitable for the smaller model plane pilots.
A Moreton Bay Council spokesperson has responded, saying Council would continue to support SAAMBR in all their endeavours.
“With their lease ending, City of Moreton Bay has worked closely with SAAMBR, supporting the club to transition their activities to better facilities at Uhlmann Road, Burpengary,” they said.
“Not only does this ensure continuous operations for SAAMBR but also opens up opportunities for growth of their club.”
While the spokesperson did not comment on the exact future use of the Griffin field, they said they will keep the community updated.
“Council will continue planning for future opportunities at the Griffin site and new information will be made available on Council’s Your Say Moreton Bay website as community engagement opportunities arise,” they said.
SAAMBR member, Warner Summerton, said with the number of members the club has, one field will not be enough to cater for the Moreton Bay region.
“Council seems to be under the opinion that there should be only one flying site in the whole Moreton Bay region,” Mr Summerton said.
“There are 200 or 300 members in the club and you have to take into consideration the number of people wanting to fly aren’t going to fit on one large field.
People will have to book if we are left with the one field.”
Mr Summerton added the Burpengary site only suits some of the members’ flying types.
“The Burpengary site is not suitable for all activities because the field is too rough,” he said.
“This is not constructive to the growth of our club.”
He concluded by stating the club has a right to use Sid Bray Field as a sporting facility.
