Warbird Information Exchange

Gone and nearly forgotten - http://wongm.com/2011/05/raaf-williams-air-force-base/ and http://wongm.com/2011/09/heritage-liste ... -laverton/ RAAF Laverton in Melbourne, once a important base for the RAAF from 1920-1990s.... now a small operational area and a few heritage buildings left, with runways and base turned over majority to housing...

It's very sad to see the state of condition that Laverton has turned to since I started working in Australia in 1997. It could have been a nice general aviation airport for southwest Melbourne but the developers seem to have more money than the aviation people, same as here in the U.S.

Unfortunately Laverton suffered from 5 basic issues:

- The re-posture of Air Force capability to the North, and the subsequent reduction in bases to the South, resulting in the intended closure of the nearby Point Cook, closure of the RAAF Stores at Tottenham, leaving only East Sale as an operational RAAF Base in Victoria.

- The shortness of its Runways, probably its biggest limitation, when ARDU received a Mirage it couldnt operate from Laverton due to the shortness of its runways, so ARDU relocated to Edinburugh in SA effectively removing the only flying unit using Laverton and hence sealing the fate of its runways.

- Proximity of Point Cook - Laverton was first established as a RAAF store and workshop as an extension to Point Cook and wasnt originally an "Air Station" in its own right. It was the RAAF's second site, but the third RAAF airfield to be established.

- Conjestion of Air space - When Laverton was active with ARDU, and Point Cook was active with 1 FTS, and Avalon active with GAF aircraft production and Qantas Training circuits, the western side of Melbourne was very crowded air space with a number of Defence restricted areas, and of course hard up next to the air space for Essendon and Tullamarine.

- Werribee residential Growth Corridor - the Victorian Government plans for Werribee/Hoppers Crossing to be the Western Growth Corridor sealed the fate of Laverton in terms of getting more land to expand its runways or to retain a buffer from residential development.

At this stage the base has lost @40% of its area due to the sell off, and residential redevelopment of its runways, and has lost its control tower, and also a 1 AD Hangar from the late 1930s', however much of the base remains, and is protected on the Commonwealth Heritage List including the post WW1 store/workshop complex of 1AD, along with the large 1930's hangars which housed the 1934 air race participants.

Currently the base is expected to be retained and become a major Defence base (with its excellent freeway and train access for commuting, and secure perimeter), for relocating office based civilian staff and other miscellaneous units based elsewhere in Melbourne and in many cases in rented accomodation or inner suburbs defence owned property that can be sold off.

In the late 1980s the future of both Laverton and Point Cook were examined in light of the expected wind down of both, and was also caught up with the expected closure of nearby Essendon in which case there was expectation that many of the commercial businesses would move to Laverton with Point Cook becoming a GA and recreational airfield.

The Runways were put up for sale but developers rather than aviators snapped up the opportunity.

As it turned out we have kept Essendon as an operational and valuable GA airfield (it is Melbournes former Airline terminal) with a lot of early civilian built heritage and rich interwar hangars and the ANA terminal, and of the two Essendon was the better to have kept.

In this case we have managed to retain nearby Point Cook as an operational airfield, and heritage working base, with the RAAF Museum at its spiritual home, but also able to access operational runways, (as compared to its RAF and RNZAF equivalents).

Laverton was always at risk as an airfield, and had Defence to decided to retain a major base in Victoria, their ownship of Avalon and its large runway and hangars and remote location relative to residential development, would always have been the preferred outcome.

As of today while we have lost its runways, we still have much of the interwar built heritage of Laverton and I expect the most significant buildings will be retained even if the site was eventually sold off by Defence. Of more importance is that we have retained the historically more important pre-WW1 and WW1 structures and operating airfield at RAAF Point Cook, and the historically important and rich civil aviation heritage/operational airfield at Essendon.

We cant save them all, in this case I think we saved the most important two.

regards

Mark Pilkington

_________________
20th Century - The Age of Manned Flight
"from Wrights to Armstrong in 66 years -WOW!"

Thanks for that Mark. The initial post seemed to be vague and pointless. The base has long ago been closed to air traffic but the rest of it seems to be intact. Forgotten I think not. It's right there on the freeway as you drive past it. May be under the guise of RAAF Williams now to incorporate Point Cook but it's still there.

3 points for taking the time to elaborate on and explain the initial posters post.
I don't have many fond memories of RAAF Laverton myself but I did spend my first night as a new recruit there. so, in my log book, it will never be forgotten.