Peta Tomlinson reports on the creation of Australia’s first residential community built around a runway.

A man who once dreamed he could fly has become Australia’s most innovative airport developer. Passionate about aviation since boyhood, Jeffrey Ruddell ended up not only buying his own airport, but transforming it so that others too could live the dream.

And what better place for a visionary residential ‘airpark’ than one of the world’s natural wonders – the Great Barrier Reef.

Ruddell is the sole investor in the $65 million WAVE (Whitsunday Aviation Village Estate) project at Airlie Beach in tropical north Queensland, which is not surprising to those who know him. “I’ve always had a reputation for sticking my neck out,” admits the sugarcane farmer who was just 14 years old when he quit school to go and earn a living.

An airpark is a residential community built around a runway. The homes are usually designed to include an aircraft hangar. The concept is hugely popular in the US, where over 500 airparks have been developed, but Australian authorities have not been so keen. Despite grandiose proposals from various developers in various locations, WAVE is the only one yet to gain all the necessary government approvals.

And Ruddell is in little doubt that Australia’s first airpark will give the best in the US “a run for their money”.

“Through extensive research and working with expert engineers, we have designed an airpark that offers the ultimate lifestyle for those just as passionate about aviation as myself,” enthuses Ruddell. “Where else in the world can you stroll down the stairs of your architecturally designed tropical home, climb into your aircraft and within minutes reach famous island resorts and coral reefs?”

A Whitsunday local, Ruddell couldn’t wait to explore the Great Barrier Reef by air. By 16 he had obtained his private pilot’s licence, and nearly three decades later, his enthusiasm hasn’t paled.

“It’s just awesome to fly like a bird over this tremendous living thing that’s one of the world’s natural wonders. And it’s so spectacular,” he says. “Where else could you find 74 magic islands with the Great Barrier Reef on the doorstep?”

Though farming is his business – having bought the first in a series of cane farms when he was 28 – Ruddell had long flirted with the idea of owning an airfield. He “didn’t think it would come to anything”, but opportunity knocked when he went to his local Whitsunday Airport to see about doing some charter flights. The previous owner mentioned that the airport was for sale, prompting Ruddell to make what he maintains was the best move of his life.

Immediately he began growing the commercial precinct of the airport, investing $1.7 million in seven new buildings (including hangars) and related infrastructure. This allowed for the introduction of various new businesses including a flying school and helicopter sales, as well as expansion of existing businesses.

Tenants now include HeliBiz, Australia’s leading helicopter business selling 50 per year, and Air Whitsunday, with the largest fleet of sea planes in the southern hemisphere.



Ruddell admits that he had “heard about airparks”, but never seen one – and as a businessman he thought this could be the solution for the part of his 60-acre site that couldn’t be used for commercial aviation.

As part of his research, Ruddell visited over 50 airparks in the US and “incorporated the best bits of each” into his WAVE masterplan. And, as a pilot himself, he also knew what not to do – hence the decision to spend $3.4 million on a 15-metre wide sealed runway made of asphalt, not bitumen, for safer, quieter and smoother landings.

Each of the village’s 57 homes will have its own hangar with space for a rotary or fixed wing aircraft up to the size of a small jet. All are located on a dual taxi-way to eliminate the hassle of driving to the airport and finding parking.

It’s no coincidence that the architect tasked with designing the hangar homes is a pilot himself. Gary Hunt, like Ruddell, also understands the aviation culture and recognises how important it is for aircraft to be both secure and easily handled. He’s also the architect behind some of the Whitsundays’ most innovative developments, Peppers resorts and the new Port of Airlie marina precinct.

“Our design solution was a series of hangar homes uniquely tropical and reminiscent of traditional Queensland homes and values,” Hunt says. “The homes incorporate lots of shade and are designed to capture the sea breezes but are carefully thought out and user-friendly so the owner can safely hangar their aircraft.”

The village also has an eco-focus. Existing mature trees have been maintained and natural creeks enhanced, and noise minimised through double glazing, insulation and extensive landscape buffering. It’s a gated, self-sufficient community with its own supermarket, restaurants and shops.

Ruddell believes his decision to assemble the best planning and engineering teams possible played a key role in securing a permit for what he confidently says is Australia’s first purposebuilt airpark community (a few hangar homes do exist in rural areas, but these are add-ons to existing airfields).

And, there will be no more in the Whitsundays. WAVE’s permit allows only for 57 lots, and there is no scope for future airport development in the region.

WAVE’s approval came through in April, after three and a half years of planning and a significant investment. Ruddell withstood long periods of stress and offers from developers to buy his land, and was rewarded when a waiting list of buyers were quick to snap up many of the lots, which range from 1,000sqm to 1,400sqm and sell for $430,000-$780,000 (land only).

Owners can then either build their own designs within the covenant guidelines, or choose from four of Hunt’s designs.

Ruddell is a little coy when asked for details about buyers, admitting that most of his new neighbours are from other Australian states and “the kind of people who want a luxury holiday home with their plane or helicopter in the hangar and a boat in the marina.”

Being the creator of the village has entitled Ruddell to one very important perk – the right to select the best plot of land and home for himself. Well, you would, wouldn’t you?

Asia-Pacific Airports 2007 Issue 1