‘APOCALYPSE NOW’ ROW
Waiheke Islanders vs helicopters
Waiheke Islanders are fighting a vineyard’s helipad plan, with locals fuming that constant helicopter flights are ruining their peaceful lives.
Some locals says the problem has become so bad that they now “feel like extras in Apocalypse Now”, disturbing their quiet enjoyment of what was once a peaceful place.
Opponents say there are already 48 helipads on Waiheke Island.
Now CHS Vineyard, which owns and operates Obsidian vineyard between Palm Beach and Onetangi, wants to build a helipad to fly in visitors.
But Gerda Gorgner of lobby group Quiet Sky Waiheke said: “Nowhere else in New Zealand are so many helipads in such a small area. We feel like extras in Apocalypse Now.”
Chris Darby, Auckland Council’s planning committee chairman, said the intrusion of helicopters was “quite considerable”.
“We do have a disproportionate number of helicopters on Waiheke compared to the rest of Auckland.”
Darby wants Waiheke locals to record and report helicopters flying illegally low over the sea or land.
But he emphasises that although helipad applications go to the council, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has jurisdiction over flights. Complaints should be directed there.
The CAA says it has had no complaints.
Mike Sweeney of Quiet Sky Waiheke wants a moratorium on helipad applications for fuller evaluations, assessment and regulatory reviews.
The group has around 40 members and Sweeney said Obsidian’s application was of particular concern.
“The proposed Obsidian site has unusual and exceptional terrain characteristics, sitting high on the edge of a natural amphitheatre that is known to residents to be an echo-chamber that magnifies noise transmission,” said the group’s appeal for the latest application to be notified or made public so everyone can have a say.
Gorgner said it was sheer luck that neighbours discovered the application, as they were generally not notified.
“This was the trigger for the group to approach policy and lawmakers to make them aware of the situation on Waiheke Island,” Gorgner said.
The council supplied Sweeney with a map of helicopter landing pads, landing rights, variations to consents like the time of flying and the date of approval up to last month.
Two years ago, the Herald reported on who wanted new Auckland helicopter landing pads.
From late 2013 to 2019, the council received 25 helicopter pad applications for private properties, of which all but two were granted: Briscoes boss Rod Duke’s application in Sarsfield St in Herne Bay was “processing” at the time and another, on Waiheke’s Nick Johnstone Drive, was listed as “on hold”.
But CHS’ Obsidian application, prepared by Wendy Baverstock of Isle Land Planning, said flights would be limited to day times and up to 12 single-engine movements during three days or a maximum of eight movements a day.
Baverstock told the Herald on Sunday: “The application has been lodged and is being considered by Auckland Council. Council’s position on the application will be confirmed in due course.”
Her report said only minor earthworks were required because a paddock on the 16ha property was the proposed site. No building construction was proposed, nor land disturbance or drainage that exceeded those permitted.
Consultants Marshall Day wrote an acoustic assessment report that examined how the helipad could be operated “to ensure that a reasonable noise level, consistent with that required by the operative district plan rule . . . is maintained for neighbours at the nearest noise-sensitive locations.”
Baverstock said the helipad would be on a “large rural site in a comparatively remote paddock area surrounded by hills”.
Noise effects could be adequately mitigated, less than minor adverse cumulative effects were considered likely and no flight training or major helicopter or aircraft maintenance would be permitted, Baverstock said. The vineyard’s winemaker said the owner was unavailable to comment on the application to the Herald.
Waiheke’s Lindsay Niemann of Cable Bay hates helicopters.
“It takes over your life. You’re on edge, especially on weekends, because you don’t know when the noise is going to come. You don’t know how long it will go on. It’s the uncertainty.
“When it happens, you can’t carry on a conversation or hear the radio. You’ve lost the quiet enjoyment of your own property.”
Onetangi resident Janet Salas also complained of “the disturbing vibration inside the house with two storeys and all windows closed”.
“If we get more, I will have to move off the island. I’m over my limit of endurance now already, only hanging on because Covid has damped it down slightly. I don’t encourage people to visit Waiheke because the nuisance is so great.”
Right now, the once relaxed backwater of Waiheke Island more resembles a microcosm of New Zealand’s growing pains.
The warring factions could easily be described as the haves and the havenots, but these are more likely the haves and the have-yachts.
Those who have settled there for some time cherish the peace and quiet. Flashy new arrivals come with superlaunches, helicopters, vineyards and parties.
The island’s first marina, planned for Kennedy Point, has attracted protests from locals, iwi and others. Opponents to the planned berthage for about 180 boats, as well as facilities for visiting boats, are concerned about the marina’s impact on the environment and the threat to the little blue penguin, the korora¯ , which nest in the bay.
Now the battlefield has opened up on the skies over and around the island. The 40-strong Quiet Sky Waiheke group opposes any further helicopter operations.
Anne Gibson today reports some Waiheke Islanders “feel like extras in Apocalypse Now” because of the number of helicopter flights. Apparently, all that’s missing is Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries and the smell of napalm in the morning.
The latest application for chopper landings is from the Obsidian winery at a spot some locals claim to be a “natural amphitheatre” where noise from the machines will echo far and wide. The applicants have supplied a consultant’s report stating the accoustic effects could be adequately mitigated.
Auckland Council is in the middle, tasked with somehow fulfilling applicants’ wishes according to the rules while protecting ratepayers from a rising chorus of clattering whirlybirds.
These clashes of culture and lifestyle aren’t new, but fresh revisions to replace the Resource Management Act are currently being tabled by the Government to fast-track new housing and infrastructure while also seeking to protect the environment.
The new laws will have their work cut out for them.
This week, Klein Vision successfully flew a car between airports, a 90km journey, in Slovakia. On landing in the city of Bratislava, the AirCar taxied off the runway and on to urban streets. Just wait until The Jetsons catch sight of this little pearl in the Hauraki Gulf.
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