Two packed public meetings about Badgerys Creek airport have shown the depth of passion in the community over the proposed flight paths.
Last Thursday, residents sat in the aisles of the council chamber as both councillors and members of the public vowed to fight tooth and nail to stop planes flying over the Mid and Lower Mountains.
And residents came out in force again at Blaxland community hall on Sunday afternoon when more than 800 people attended a forum organised by Blue Mountains mayor Mark Greenhill and Labor candidate for Macquarie, Susan Templeman.
The flight paths laid out in the draft Environmental Impact Statement show five arrival tracks converging over Blaxland. There is no curfew proposed for the new airport.
Speakers at the council meeting were cheered and clapped as they spoke of their fears about 24-hour noise destroying the peace that is the reason many people live in the area.
Some of the loudest applause came after Clr Brendan Luchetti, a Winmalee resident, started his speech with a recording of crickets at his home.
"That is the sound from my house, from my backyard, from my front yard at night. Silence," he said.
"Now I am being told by the boffins that hastily cobbled together this tick-a-box EIS that 55 decibels, that 60 decibels and the occasional 70 decibel intrusion into what you just heard is of minimal and acceptable impact," he said, playing the ear-shattering recording of a plane.
"Let's not beat around the bush. This is all about politics, colleagues. This airport was a captain's pick by our former PM that should go the way of dames and knights."
Clr Luchetti said "farewell" to some of his favourite bush spots, including Euroka Clearing, Faulconbridge Point and Sassafras Gully, before concluding: "Nah, stuff that. Those places are all worth fighting for. Let's rise up against this madness and fight like we are on death row, for our quality of life faces the gallows if we are to fail."
The sparkling rhetoric continued with Clr Annette Bennett, who wanted "birds not Boeings, fresh air not air buses, quietness not Qantas".
Bob Treasure, who has lived in Warrimoo since 1973, said he had seen many developments in his time "but this is the greatest abomination I have come across".
"It isn't even necessary - it's a con job. It was thought up by a failed prime minister that needed to say something about infrastructure."
Yvonne Anderson, a Blaxland resident, said she had been "in tears" ever since she saw the proposed flight paths.
"We never saw this coming. It's been an appalling shock."
Commenting on the December 18 deadline for submissions, Clr Mick Fell pointed out that council regularly allowed 30 days extension for DAs on a new house or renovation.
"And we gave five weeks to people to comment on green bins," he said.
Brendan Christie, from Ward 4, supports Badgerys Creek airport but not the flight paths.
He said the convergence of all arrivals over Blaxland was "the ultimate betrayal by the bureaucrats in the ivory tower of the department of infrastructure".
The paths "defied logic" and should be "shifted over uninhabited land".
Council voted unanimously to seek meetings with the Minister for Infrastructure, Warren Truss, and the Environment Minister, Greg Hunt, as well as Macquarie MP, Louise Markus, to outline the community's concerns and to agitate for a longer public submission period.
Susan Templeman said the numbers at Sunday's meeting showed the shock people are feeling about the flight paths and the constant noise they will bring.
"The challenge now is for the wider community to be made aware of the Federal Government's plans, and to strongly express the concerns that they have... We will continue to put information out for people to share online and encourage them to use our Facebook page, Fair Go for the Mountains, as a source and contact point," she said.
Blue Mountains mayor Mark Greenhill said the "huge attendances" at both meetings should be a strong signal to the government.
"I was one of the leaders of the successful campaign of 15 years ago [to stop the airport] and the secret to our success then was unity. We all need to come together as a community, something we are very good at in the Blue Mountains, and fight this."