Auckland Council has proposed new rules to make it harder for helipads to be approved on Great Barrier and Waiheke Islands. The Great Barrier Local Board has welcomed the move, which will see new environmental and cultural criteria added to the consent process.
Currently, helipads are assessed based on noise and visual impact. Under the proposed change, the council will also consider how helicopter activity could affect endangered birds, nesting sites, Māori heritage and ecologically significant areas.
Cr Richard Hills, chair of the council’s Planning and Environment Committee, said the council was responding to local pressure.
“Local boards and community members on Waiheke and Aotea Great Barrier have come to the council with concerns over the number of helipads on the islands,” Hills said in a statement. “They have said that the noise can be quite imposing and the council’s planning rules need to be strengthened.”
The rule change will add a reference to the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement (NZCPS) into the Hauraki Gulf District Plan for the first time. Helicopter landing pads will remain a restricted discretionary activity, but new applications will be subject to tougher environmental thresholds until a full review of the Auckland Unitary Plan takes place in 2026.
Great Barrier Local Board chair Izzy Fordham says the board sees the update as a step in the right direction.
“Today’s decision by the Policy and Planning Committee is a step in the right direction but there’s still a long way to go,” Fordham said. “Great Barrier Local Board sees this as an interim measure that will add an extra layer of consideration to applications, and we welcome that.”
Fordham told Stuff she doesn’t want Great Barrier to follow the same trajectory as Waiheke.
Waiheke, which is around a third the size of Great Barrier Island, has nearly six times as many helipads.
“We’re looking for the strongest measure possible before Aotea ends up in a similar situation to poor old Waiheke,” she said.
“We’ve currently got 11 [helipads] and possibly another one in the pipeline. There’s one road on the island that has five helipads on it and one property that has two.”
She said many of the pads are used by part-time residents, even when the Claris airfield is nearby.
“One in particular invariably comes with his boat. But we’re talking 3.5km away from an airfield,” Fordham told Stuff. “It’s not like you’re way out in the wops… When you’re living in a residential area, it’s a little bit rich.”
Previous Approval Sparked Divided Reaction
Last year, a helipad was approved for a property on Rosalie Bay Road. Community opinion was split 50/50 with some commenting that the pads were inappropriate, disruptive and “not in the spirit of the island,” while others argued helicopters were only used occasionally, made minimal noise, or that residents should be free to use their own land as they see fit.
Have Your Say
The proposed rule change will be publicly notified in the coming weeks, with the public invited to make submissions via the Auckland Council website.
If adopted, the change will apply immediately to new helipad consents, with full planning integration scheduled for the Unitary Plan review in 2026.
