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Gina Rinehart’s company Hancock Prospecting hopes a new flight path fringing Perth’s iconic Kings Park will get plans for a helipad at its $270 million headquarters past the local council, which knocked back the request from Australia’s richest person last year.
The City of Perth grounded plans for the helipad at the Ord Street building in December, despite two councillors backing the idea of a helicopter landing in the city precinct, and the lord mayor describing Rinehart as an “amazing Australian”.
However, the company has since taken the matter to WA’s State Administrative Tribunal and, as part of the process, lodged a revised development application with the city this week outlining a new flight path and operating hours in a bid to get the request over the line.
Previous plans had the helicopter approaching from the east or west of the eye-popping five-storey headquarters, in a route that would have seen it come down over the inner-city suburb of Subiaco or a mix of residential and office buildings in West Perth.
Instead, the new flight path has the eight-seat Bell 429 helicopter approaching the building from the south-west, tracking Thomas Street on the outer fringe of Perth’s CBD botanic garden Kings Park, before turning and descending once it reaches Ord Street.
The company had previously aimed for the helipad to be used in “daylight hours” between 7am and 7pm up to 12 times a year for “occasional corporate transport”.
And representatives from Hancock Prospecting even likened Perth to Tokyo and New York as a “global city” with “contemporary needs for globally connected businesses” as they pushed their case before council.
In the revised development application lodged with the City of Perth, the window for flights has been shortened to between midday and 7pm.
A Hancock Prospecting spokesperson said the company’s original application was “developed with expert input and independent technical analysis which confirmed the helipad and flight path can operate safely and appropriately”.
“However, as part of our extensive good faith efforts to reach agreement with the City of Perth, we have proposed an amended flight path and further reduced the proposed operating timeframes,” they said.
The spokesperson said the amended proposal also complied with requirements for aircraft noise levels, and that further independent analysis found traffic noise along Thomas Street would exceed that produced by the use of the helipad.
“For comparison, the noise experienced by nearby residents inside their dwelling while our proposed helipad is in use would be similar to operating a small appliance such as a blender or coffee grinder,” they said.
“A car horn heard from three metres away exceeds the decibel level of use of our helipad. This detail was all made clear in our original application.
“Rooftop helipads are commonplace across the world’s leading cities, and our proposal would elevate Perth’s status as a serious, up-to-date business hub.”
The City of Perth has been contacted for comment.
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