Aerodrome

This plaque is located opposite Airport Rd at 26 Grayland St.

Our brilliant airstrip was initiated by the Cobden Chamber of Commerce, later to become Progressing Cobden, in 1979. Chamber president Jim Walsh suggested the idea of constructing an aircraft landing area in or near Cobden, primarily for the use of the air ambulance.

A 16-acre site, part of the old Cobden racecourse, partly-Crown land plus an area owned by Bonlac, was found after an extensive search around Camperdown, Terang and Timboon. The land was obtained after negotiations at no cost!

After a public appeal was launched in 1982, the project was completed by 1984 despite the Ash Wednesday fires intervening in 1983 – a magnificent achievement thanks to the Heytesbury Shire, local contractors, service clubs and many individuals, all of whom worked with great commitment and generosity – in terms of both time and resources.

The Shire of Heytesbury assumed management of the airstrip in 1984 and set up a committee of management which comprised councillors John Blake and Frank Howard, J L (Jim) Walsh and Graham Parlour (Chamber of Commerce), Stan Coad (Rotary Club), Cr Arthur Matheson (Bush Nursing Hospital), Des Pekin (Apex Club), Lyal Couch (Timboon Lions), Garry Hibberd (Timboon Apex) and Garth McLennan (Shire staff).

As the prime mover and shaker, Jim Walsh was appointed president/ chairman. He held this position for the next 20 years before passing it on to Kevin Norris.

Significant events along the way: 

• The first air ambulance used the strip in 1984. “If we save one life, it will be all worthwhile.” Now, there is a helipad with taxi-way access.
• In 1988, a centenary air show raised $6000 which was put towards lighting the strip, a project completed in 1991.
• The St Patrick’s Day fires (March 2018) demonstrated the importance of the aerodrome to fire-fighting.
• The strip has been lit, sealed and widened sufficiently to be called an authorised landing area, lessening the likelihood of wind turbines being established nearby.
• The critically-endangered southern bent-wing bat, resistance from the local community and the overall importance of an aviation facility to business, agriculture, tourism, training, air-ambulance, emergency rescue and fire-fighting thwarted the establishment of wind turbines to the north of the airfield between 2017-19.
• A level, weather-proof loading space now exists for several crop- dusting businesses at the northern end of the strip.
• As a Corangamite Shire facility, a prepared master plan has established a framework for the future planning and development of Cobden Aerodrome.
• A fund-raising group, led by Philip Robertson, raised about $150,000 towards sealing the strip and advancing the facility generally.