“As the real estate agent said, ‘location, location, location’, and we’re right next door to the airport. It will be very convenient if we ever have to fly one day,” he says.

If only the residents of Somerton were so philosophical.

The air battle raging in the skies above the rural village took a dramatic nosedive on Tuesday night when a group of residents threatened to take a barney over noise with the Tamworth model aircraft club to the Land and Environment Court.

Those accustomed to the daily bowel-shaking rumble of jumbo jets under Melbourne’s flight path might scoff at the suggestion a few remote-controlled aeroplanes buzzing around homes once a week could be an attack on residents’ way of life.

But chief objector Matthew Streater couldn’t be more serious.

He said the issue was about “protect(ing) our way of life”, even accusing some model plane enthusiasts of flying aircraft directly over his property to goad him.

Such inflammatory language does little to help resolve the issue.

Only through communication and compromise will parties be able to find a way through the dispute.

*****

FORGET the squabble over model planes, Tamworth’s fight to keep the contract for the Basic Flight Training School is a future-defining issue for the city.

The federal government contract, worth an estimated $2 billion to Tamworth over 25 years, is up for grabs and the region is locked in a dash for the cash with a host of other regional areas.

Newly minted local member Barnaby Joyce should be commended for recognising how critical this is to the local economy and raising the issue with the prime minister and the defence minister.

That Tamworth deserves to keep the contract is a given – we have the infrastructure, the proven record and the ideal weather for flying.

The message to the federal government is clear – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.