Tyabb Airport's biennial air show has been reinstated on the calendar after Mornington Peninsula Shire Council last night backed down on its permit demands.
The show was canceled last week after the council issued Peninsula Aero Club (PAC) with a new permit process that was completely unworkable in the time left before the show in March next year.
"The shire agreed to go back to the old process of approval, which is easier for us," PAC president Jack Vevers told Australian Flying.
"The PAC committee gave us the go-ahead last light, so now we've got 14 months of work to do in six months."
After being presented with the new permit process, Vevers and his team went back to the council to try to get the situation sorted out, but reached a dead-end that resulted in the popular air show being canceled.
"We took what we needed to the council, but they weren't listening," Vevers said. "There were safety issues with what they wanted. It seemed they thought we were bluffing and wouldn't walk away from the show."
After the cancelation, social media, Tyabb locals and the aviation community created a lot of noise that is believed to have made it all the way to the Victorian parliament. The resulting pressure triggered the shire to reverse their decision and allow PAC to work under the old permit process that has been used for prior air shows.
"We can fix it," Vevers said. "even if we have to go like hell!"
All things running smoothly, the Tyabb Air Show is scheduled for 8 March 2020.