Part 11A of the Defence Regulation 2016 provides a legal framework for controlling activities which may be dangerous to aviation.
Declared Defence Aviation Areas (DAA) cover an area situated within a 15 kilometre radius of the aerodrome.
The regulation applies to activities, structures and objects within the DAA, such as:
- Construction of permanent structures, including buildings and communication towers.
- Wind turbines, wind monitoring masts and the temporary mooring of structures. This includes oil rigs and vessels for those aerodromes where the DAA extends off the coast over an area of sea.
- Temporary structures, including cranes
- Vegetation, such as trees and plants used for landscaping.
- Gas plumes emanating from an exhaust stack.
- Objects located within the DAA which are hazardous to the safety of aircraft operations or interfere with aviation-related communications, navigation or surveillance facilities (such as radars). This applies regardless of whether the DAA height controls are triggered by the height of structures. For example:
- the use of firearms at a facility, such as a shooting range
- a transmitting antenna, which may cause interference with other radiofrequency equipment such as Air Traffic Control (ATC) communications, microwave link paths, navigation aids, and ATC radars.
Links to the DAA declarations are provided below for each location, which defines the heights at which proposed structures need to be referred to Defence for approval.
Applications
Developers and statutory planning authorities should review the relevant DAA plan to determine whether the property is affected by the DAA regulation.
Crane use only
For a DAA application involving only the proposed use of a crane, complete the crane notification form.
Contact the Air Base Command Post or Base Aviation Safety Officer by calling 1300 333 362 and ask to be connected to the relevant military aerodrome.
General construction
A DAA application is required to be submitted to Defence before construction commences if the following applies:
- The height of a planned structure exceeds the DAA height restriction for the proposed development.
- Proposed development will bring into, or use, a hazardous object within a DAA.
The assessment process can take up to 2 months to allow consultation to occur with a wide range of stakeholders.
Submit an application by emailing sufficient information for Defence to understand the possible impact on aviation safety, such as:
- A brief description of the proposal.
- The street address and legal description of the subject site.
- A plan showing the proposed structure’s location in relation to the property boundaries and natural ground levels.
- Plans and elevations of the proposed structures showing the maximum height for:
- buildings
- electrical equipment
- vegetation used for landscaping (include the height of vegetation at maturity where trees are proposed)
- lights
- antennas
- lightning protection terminals
- air conditioning units
- any other service infrastructure mounted on the roof in both Australian height datum (AHD) and above ground level (AGL) formats.
- Geographical co-ordinates (latitude and longitude) and universal transverse mercator (UTM) grid co-ordinates (easting and northing) for the development.
- The horizontal datum for the co-ordinates, i.e. Geocentric Datum of Australia 2020 (GDA2020), Map Grid of Australia 2020 (MGA2020), or other datum.
- If cranes are to be used, the location and height information for the crane.