At the time of the original planning, the Badgerys Creek flight paths were over farm land to the south and over the sparsely populated suburb of Doonside to the north.
[3] Arthur Gietzelt, a member of Sutherland Shire Council, opposed the proposition,[15] and in March 1969, the then Prime Minister (John Gorton) ruled out Towra Point as a potential site for a second airport, citing community noise problems.
In 1983 the newly elected Labor Federal Government hoped for quick decision, but it was not until 1986 that recommendations were made: Wilton or Badgerys Creek.
[18] The federal government under Bob Hawke decided upon Badgerys Creek, but in 1989 it also made the decision to permit the construction of the third runway at Kingsford Smith.
[19] In December 2003 John Anderson, the then transport minister, said "following exhaustive examination it is clear the existing airport at Mascot will be able to handle air traffic demands for a long time to come".
[20] In May 2004, it was revealed that State and Federal parliaments had investigated the possibility of establishing the second Sydney airport at Well's Creek, not far from the townships of Sutton Forest, Berrima and Exeter.
Various options, including a freight-only airport operation, Camden, or converting part or all of RAAF Richmond and Canberra (or its nearby towns) as passenger and freight terminals were to be investigated for feasibility.
Given existing development within the Sydney basin, a HSR link would probably be required whatever site is chosen, yet the Canberra option would potentially be cheaper overall.
[22] On Friday 2 March 2012 then Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese released a 3,200 page joint report costing $8m into Sydney's aviation capacity needs.
[23] Albanese instead said the government would begin planning studies for the second-best airport site, Wilton; which is considerably further to the south, along the Hume Motorway near Picton.
[28] Most of the land surrounding the 17,000 hectare airport site is slated for industrial development, not residential, as part of the Western Sydney Employment Area.
[28] In February 2013 an alliance of Western Sydney councils (WSROC) reversed their position against an airport at Badgerys Creek, with a majority of members now supporting the site, citing economic value to the area.
While in Opposition, the Abbott-led Coalition did not commit to a position on that matter, but prominent shadow ministers, including Joe Hockey, voiced their support for an airport at Badgerys Creek.
[30] The NSW Government remained firm in its opposition to any Sydney location, favouring spending infrastructure dollars on a high-speed rail link to Canberra.
[29] In October 2013 The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that Treasurer Joe Hockey had nominated a second Sydney airport at Badgerys Creek as one of the key infrastructure projects needed to stimulate the slowing Australian economy.
[32] The newspaper had earlier that month quoted Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss saying that "Badgerys Creek was chosen as the best site decades ago and is government-owned.
[35] In March 2014, the Sydney Morning Herald published a poll showing a 72% of NSW voters wanted an airport at Badgerys Creek.
If not, this may still be an unaddressed negative because it was calculated at the time that 9 tonnes of aircraft fuel waste per week would potentially be released over the stored water.