General News
14 November, 2025
Critical decision on airport lighting project at November meeting
The critical need for lighting at Nyngan aerodrome continues with Bogan Shire Council (BSC) in limbo as it awaits a NSW government announcement on a grant application for the project.
Without the surety of the $515,533 funding request, council may need to return a $116,000 federal government grant for the same project as it won’t be able to complete the agreed work schedule on time, BSC general manager, Derek Francis recently revealed. He said that council had already been given an extension for the project from the Commonwealth but, unless the NSW government grant is approved imminently, the project would have to be either abandoned, downsized, or have funding sourced from elsewhere.
“The first milestone for the federal government grant [was] due on October 31, 2025, for the completion of design and procurement,” Mr Francis explained. “As the project is not fully-funded, this work has not yet been undertaken,” he added.
Despite an extension on completion of the work from Canberra, time is now flying, he revealed. “The acquittal date for the federal government grant and final report, has already been extended to May 2026. “We have been advised that, under this grant, it is not possible to do part of the project, as the funding application was for a complete pilot-activated lighting system,” Mr Francis said.
Council submitted the NSW grant application through the Regional Economic Development Community Investment Program (REDCIP) in December 2024, and was expecting to know the outcome mid-year.
The state government has, however, announced other successful projects elsewhere in NSW, but none so far for western NSW.
Council resolved at its October meeting to immediately lobby both the state member for Barwon, Roy Butler, and federal member for Parkes, Jamie Chaffey, on the pressing issue.
The 50-year-old lighting system at the aerodrome completely failed in 2022, and any aircraft arriving and departing after dark, are reliant on temporary battery-lit beacons being placed along the runway and apron.
This includes all night-time emergency medical retrievals, of which there have been around 15 each year.
Council will make a decision at its November meeting on the immediate future of the project.
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