The effort to ban new helipads in residential areas across the Hauraki Gulf Islands appears to have been grounded in Wellington, leaving local planning in a state of limbo. While Auckland Council voted last year to make private helipads a prohibited activity, the change cannot take effect without a specific exemption from RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop.
The National Coalition government has placed a freeze on all local plan changes while it overhauls the Resource Management Act, but Waitamatā and Gulf Ward Councillor Mike Lee says the council’s request for a special exemption has been with the Minister since December.
“The letter has been sitting on Minister Bishop’s desk for months now. I thought it was time to give him a reminder,” Lee told Gulf News, saying he’d sent a follow up note.
The push for a total ban gained significant momentum following the controversial decision in July 2025 to grant a helipad to former All Black Ali Williams and toy billionaire Anna Mowbray at their Westmere property. In that case, independent commissioners ruled that helicopter use was inherently associated with residential land use, a finding that sparked widespread public backlash and fears that such precedents would make it nearly impossible to block future applications.
Lee has argued that the current restricted discretionary status is failing to protect neighborhoods. He told Gulf News that “environmental effects were evidently not given sufficient weight and since that time the number of helipads consented on Waiheke has skyrocketed to 68.”
On Great Barrier Island, 13 helipad consents in settlement areas have either been granted or are being processed. While the scale differs from Waiheke, some islanders have raised concerns about the prospect of increased consents as the island develops. The issue remains divisive however, others view helicopters as essential infrastructure for remote properties.
The lack of movement from the Minister’s office has left local representatives searching for answers. Aotea / Great Barrier Local Board chair Izzy Fordham said, “Auckland Council is in the process of seeking clarification to Minister Bishop’s response to their request for a Plan Change. Until that comes through, we’re uncertain where things are at.”
Lee maintains that the current situation is no longer sustainable for island residents. “The situation in the Hauraki Gulf, where there has been a proliferation of private helipads, has become inequitable.”, Lee said.
He also argued that bringing the islands in line with mainland standards is a matter of long-term planning logic. “As the Hauraki Gulf Islands District Plan is eventually to be amalgamated into the Auckland Unitary Plan, coherence and consistency of standards are desirable.”
Until Bishop signs off, applications continue to be processed under the existing rules. Lee told Gulf News the ultimate goal of the ban is “to provide certainty and to enable better protection of rights to the peaceful enjoyment of [resident’s] homes and properties.”
