Auckland’s skies being taken over by ‘the Jetsons’, councillors hear

Thursday, 24 July 2025

A protester outside Auckland Town Hall calling 'stop the chop' ahead of a vote on banning private helicopters in residential areas.

The supercity’s skies will soon be filled with “door to door flying Ubers” if nothing is done, Auckland’s councillors were told.

At a meeting on Thursday lobby group Quiet Sky Waitematā presented a petition with 4168 signatures, requesting the council decline all future consent applications for helipads in residential Auckland.

It follows a series of successful resource consent applications in central suburbs - the latest being ex-All Black Ali Williams and toy tycoon Anna Mowbray’s property in Westmere.

It was seen as landmark decision with commissioners stating that helicopter flights were a “permitted activity … inherently associated with residential land use”.

Jeanette Budgett of Quiet Sky Waitematā arrives at Auckland Town Hall to present a petition asking for private helicopters to be banned in residential areas.

“We may like to believe we are the Jetsons in flying cars … but should we really be comparing helicopters to cars?,” said Quiet Sky’s Jeanette Budgett at Thursday’s meeting.

She said cars had already caused “nasty air and congestion” and now “door to door flying Ubers” threatened to compound that situation.

She says a proliferation of helipads would require consideration of infrastructure and establishing “good etiquette”.

“The Westmere helipad prompts the question, what sort of city do we want?”

Don Mathieson of the Herne Bay Residents Association told councillors he had experienced helicopter flights “by a next door neighbour over the fence”, and the noise was “pounding and inescapable”.

He said nearby residents had also experienced their pool and deck regularly being “filled with leaves” thanks to rotor wash, while beach-goers reported having their towels blown into the water.

Quiet Sky Waitematā previously told residents to email councillors en masse.

“They are under siege,” said Mathieson.

“What we are experiencing is more than a minor inconvenience, it’s a growing threat to residents' quality of life.

At Thursday’s meeting, Waitematā councillor Mike Lee tabled a notice of motion, calling for the council to make helicopter flights a “prohibited activity”.

However, ahead of a vote on the motion, council staff presented their opinion that achieving a prohibition would be next to “impossible” and could cost millions.

That’s because any ban would have to meet a high legal bar, and would need expert advice to back it up - and most of the experts in Auckland had already been employed by helipad owners.

'You're going to ruin your reputation over this,' councillor Mike Lee could be heard telling chair Richard Hills over the new motion.

“Many noise experts in the Auckland area have been involved in various resource consent applications … therefore it could be very difficult to find an expert to say on a blanket residential basis that no noise level [from helicopters] could be managed,” staff said.

Adding to difficulties was a recent missive by Housing Minister Chris Bishop “via a press release fact sheet”, stating that councils would need approval from the Government for new planning changes while the process to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA) was under way.

Instead, a last minute motion was brought forward at the meeting by chairperson Richard Hills, closely following staff recommendations to instead seek a declaration from the Environment Court that helicopter flights were a “non-complying” activity - a planning safeguard that makes it challenging but not impossible for new helipad consents.

Mike Lee said he had been 'stitched up' with a replacement motion that weakened his bid to prohibit private helicopters.

The motion also directed staff to prepare a plan change “to make it explicitly clear” that helicopter flights in residential areas are “non-complying” and allow for “targeted use of prohibited activity status”.

It prompted a fiery debate with Lee calling the new proposal “an ambush” weakened by “weasel words”.

A vote on the replacement motion passed 15 to 7.

It’s still a significant step with one estimate in a staff report suggested the motion could cost the council up to $2.45 million.

Auckland councillor Mike Lee wants to ban helipads in residential areas following a successful resource consent application by Ali Williams and Anna Mowbray in Westmere.

Meanwhile, this week Quiet Sky Waitematā announced they would be appealing Williams and Mowbray’s consent decision in the Environment Court.

“We’re not just doing this for Westmere. We’re doing this for Auckland. If this decision isn’t challenged, the floodgates for helicopters in backyards will open. We simply can’t let this terrible decision stand,” spokesperson Elena Keith said.

Mowbray and Williams, meanwhile, were reportedly “deeply disappointed” by the appeal.

“Our proposal fully complies with all applicable standards and CAA regulations and includes additional voluntary conditions to minimise any impact on the community,” the couple have told the New Zealand Herald.

“These voluntary conditions reflect a compromised position following years of meaningful engagement and a genuine effort to balance the needs of our neighbours,” they said.