Disrupting Helicopters w/ Waiheke Local Board Chair Cath Handley and Elena Keith of Quiet Sky Waitemata: March 29, 2023

On Thursday 30 March the Auckland Council Planning Committee will receive an internal report on compliance and decide how to better regulate helicopters within the planning system. This follows years of advocacy from residents in Herne Bay and Waiheke who are frustrated by the proliferation of helicopter pads and the significant impact they have on the wellbeing of people and animals nearby. The report suggests compliance is adequate and notes there are few complaints. However, there has been no consultation with residents who make the point that there is no proactive enforcement of compliance. The council relies on complaints to act and discourages feedback by providing no avenues to complain, noting on its website that it does not deal with aviation noise. When people do complain about breaches of consent they are required to know exactly what helicopter is used and the address of the consent holder. This creates an impossibly high bar for most people to meet. However, it was clear from a notified submission in Cremorne St last year which attracted 130 submissions, all in opposition, that feelings in affected neighbourhoods run high and that local residents with experience of living near private helipads want them banned in urban residential areas entirely.  Waiheke local board chair Cath Handley and Elena Keith of Quiet Sky Waitemata talk about the issues, why Auckland is an outlier, the changes in approach needed and why they want National Planning Standard 15 for helicopter noise measurement to be incorporated into planning decisions immediately.