A Heletranz chopper at Tantalus Estate winery on Waiheke.
The millionaire’s paradise of Waiheke Island has seen a 195 per cent jump in helipad applications since pre-Covid times.
There are at least 62 sites where applications have either been granted, construction is being monitored or new pads are proposed, according to information provided by Auckland Council.
The Herald on Sunday has plotted the locations on a map that locates the pads mainly at private residential properties - owned by the likes of billionaire and NZ’s richest man, Graeme Hart - showing the wealthy are increasingly choppering across to their island hideaways, spurning the ferry in favour of a faster and more glamorous ride.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE WHO HAS BEEN GRANTED HELIPADS ON WAIHEKE
Most helipads are down the popular Oneroa end, the island’s biggest settlement just 2km from the Matiatia Wharf ferry base, with cafes, bars and restaurants that overlook a 1km-long sandy beach. Other helipads are scattered through the centre of the island, with many concentrated near Stony Batter - a World War II coastal defence fortress looking towards the Coromandel.
There were just 21 applications plotted on a similar map by the Herald in 2019.
But not everyone is happy about their usually quiet oasis attracting more buzz to its skies.
Robin Tucker, a member of the Waiheke Local Board, said application numbers remained relatively low until lobby group Quiet Sky Waiheke began petitioning against new ones and asking Auckland Council to monitor noise effects.
In 2018, there were only three applications granted and just two in 2019, she said. But then, the numbers ballooned.
“All of a sudden, we got in the tens per year. The applicants knew that a window was closing so there was this rush of applications and there have been 19 new helipad applications since 2021.”
She said Auckland Council’s Planning, Environment and Parks Committee have now implemented the National Policy Statement 15, which meant applicants could no longer average noise using the rolling three-day average (a measure of helicopter noise, measured across three days rather than one).
“It means that very few, if any, helicopters would be able to meet that threshold. Unfortunately, the damage has already been done, with a horrendous number of helicopter movements being consented on the island already.”
Before the pandemic, in the summer of 2019, it wasn’t uncommon to see more than 28 helicopter flights on a given day over the middle of the island.
“The noise is horrendous and our terrain makes areas that are commonly flown over, like Anzac Bay, natural amphitheatres, amplifying the noise effects causing them to reverberate over residential areas destroying the tranquillity of the island,” Tucker said.
In the city, the noise of a helicopter overhead isn’t perceived to be as bad because the receiving environment is already very loud, Tucker said.
“I could barely hear a helicopter overhead in Albany by the heliport one day. Our normal environment here on Waiheke is very quiet, so the helicopters are very loud in this context.”
But one property owner who has a helipad on his property, Sir Noel Robinson, said the only reason they made their application was in case of a medical emergency.
And John Love, who has consent for a helipad on Waiheke, told the Herald on Sunday he can’t drive to his place via roads on the island, as it is in a rural area.
In 2019, the Herald reported how 26 helipad applications had been approved for the island and Auckland since September 2013.
Limits have been placed on the number of helicopter movements at each property. Consent documents show consideration has been made about the size and scale of helipads and how they integrate into the existing natural coastal landscapes.
The rural character of many of the properties and the character and amenity value of Waiheke were also considered. Flight times are also restricted, usually from 7am until 10pm except Sundays and public holidays, when hours are cut to from 9am till 6pm.
The type of helicopter, flight movements and noise levels are also restricted in consents granted.
It is often not possible for the public to know who gets consents granted because most decisions are non-notified, meaning no public input is allowed.
Quiet Sky Waiheke was formed due to what it says is “the huge proliferation of unmonitored and unregulated helicopter activity over Waiheke and the unprecedented number of helipads on the island”.
It is encouraging the rejection of helipad applications, saying these are a non-complying land use.
Public consultation should be necessary for all helipad consents so those directly affected in the vicinity and on projected flight paths can make submissions, Quiet Sky Waiheke says.
Back in the 1970s, NZ had many helicopters but they were “principally operating in remote, low-population areas for deer hunting and agricultural purposes”, it says.
In the last three decades, there had been exponential and continuing growth in the use of helicopters for non-essential travel in high-population urban and semi-urban areas and for heli-tourism in environmentally significant and sensitive areas, the lobby group says.
The following is a list of people, trusts or businesses who have been granted helipad applications in the last few years. Some properties may have changed hands since and the applications may no longer be valid.
Church Bay Farm Limited. The Companies Office shows that the company’s sole shareholder is New Zealand’s wealthiest man, Graeme Richard Hart of Glendowie.
The helipad is an existing flat grass area to the northwest of the home with a direct flight path out to sea. Planners Isle Land handled Hart’s application.
JEM Waiheke, owned by Earl and Joanne Meek. They established La Bonne Cuisine in 1978 but sold it to Heinz Watties in 2008. Their names weren’t on the application, only the company.
Richlisters Peter and Anya Hutson. No physical works were needed and only daytime flights are allowed, with a maximum of four flights per three-day rolling average or two flights on any single day. Other conditions were also imposed.
Around 2021, Peter Hutson and James Reeves sold their Bay Audio audiology business to Italian group Amplifon for $584 milion. The Herald reported then that the company, with around 100 Australian shops, was founded in 2007 and initially run as a joint venture between Peter and Anya Hutson with Abano Healthcare. In 2009 the New Zealand arm of the business, Bay Audiology, was sold to focus on expansion in Australia. The New Zealand business was later sold to Amplifon, which is headquartered in Milan, Italy, in 2010 for $157.8m.
Cliff Cook. He is a pioneer in the retirement sector, whose company developed London’s Battersea Place retirement village, via Guernsey-registered LifeCare Residences International, founded and chaired by Cook. He has been listed on the NBR Rich List with wealth of $400m. He was the founder of Metlifecare, a retirement giant. He has more than 40 years of experience in the sector.
John and Frances Sargent. He established huge and successful freight forwarder Mondiale VGL and says his career spans more than 40 years in supply chain optimisation. The Herald reported last month that Mondiale was “teasing” an initial public offering and sharemarket listing to fund its next phase of growth internationally. The Sargents commissioned architect Andrew Patterson to design their new home on the island and it is considered one of New Zealand’s most stylish places.
John and Josephine Love of developers Love and Co. He told the Herald on Sunday he can’t drive to the place via roads on the island, and is in a rural area, hence the application for the helipad. He has redeveloped the ex-Civic Administration Building into luxury apartments on Aotea Square with his The Cab project.
Craig Greenwood and Sarah Paykel. The Herald reported on that application last year. Planning consultants Isle Land’s helipad land use consent application said the Greenwood/Paykel site was irregularly shaped with a vineyard on one side. A suitably level and grassed outdoor site near the house could be used for the helipad, and no earthworks would be needed, the application said. Nor would any buildings need to be developed.
Tantalus, care of Carrie Mendell, won consent for a helipad at 72 Onetangi Rd, the same address as Tantalus Estate, which boasts an “upscale, family-owned estate vineyard and winery offering dining, tours and tastings, plus a brewery”.
Manfred Schneider. The application said known archaeological sites were on the southern portion of his site around the coastal edge. No earthworks were required for the helipad, which would simply be in a grassed area. The Companies Office lists him as living at Matakana and he is a director of mixed livestock and farming business Matakana Meadows and a second NZ registered company, Kormoran. Matakana Meadows is partly owned by Berlin’s Tangaroa Management GmbH.
Deborah Kelland, real estate specialist, won helipad consent in 2014 but told the Herald on Sunday she had since sold to Michael and Jane Allpress. He is the founder of the eponymous pioneering coffee business which he sold to a Japanese-headquartered multinational in 2021, then established a new olive oil business, saying he has a deep passion for the stonefruit. In April 2021, Allpress Espresso went to Japanese beverage giant Asahi for an undisclosed sum, said to be upwards of $50m, but never revealed. He established Waiheke’s Allpress Olive Oil. He told the Herald back then how passionate he felt about the olive oil venture.
The SH White Family Trust (Stonyridge Vineyard) at 80 Onetangi Rd. The vineyard was “the ongoing dream of owner Stephen White. In 1981 Stephen returned to New Zealand after sailing a Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, skippering yachts in the Mediterranean and Caribbean and working at wineries in France, California and Italy. It was during this three-year adventure that Stephen came to love the culture and lifestyle of the Mediterranean and the great red wines of France, Tuscany and California,” the vineyard’s website says. After extensive climatic research, Stonyridge was discovered as the ideal north-facing site to ripen and produce a world-class Bordeaux-style red wine, it says.
Simon Matthews of Wild on Waiheke, 82 Onetangi Rd. It got consent for 10 helicopter movements or five flights a month, with a maximum of four movements in any one day. The vineyard, activities and brewery business said its application would not result in the construction of structures, any earthworks or tree removal.
Delemore Lodge at 83 Delamore Dr. It told how its operations had expanded, with the addition of a small two-bedroom house which was not for visitors.
“The only comment from neighbours on contacting them in regards to helicopters is one of excitement when one lands,” wrote Roselyn Storey, a director of the business. “Delamore needs to compete with other regions. If we cannot supply what other lodges with NZ offer, we cannot ever hope to gain a reasonable momentum of growth in our tourist sector for Waiheke Island or Auckland.”
Waikorariki Peninsula Trustees can operate a helipad from the 7ha property.
Aachen Corporate Trustee, associated with significant art patrons John and Joanna Gow. The Connells Bay Sculpture Park is run from there. In 2019, Gow told the Herald the consent was retrospective: “The previous owner built the helipad 25 years ago but never had a resource consent for it. If we hadn’t applied, potentially someone could have said ‘oi, what are you doing?’ The reason we have it is that we run the property as a sculpture park and we have had guests who then become clients of ours through inbound travel operators and they want to fly their clients here.”
Ziplines New Zealand, c/- Gavin Oliver, won a consent for a helipad at 150 Trig Hill Rd, the same address as EcoZip Adventures.
Simon Rowntree for his 4.4ha property. Rowntree is one of Auckland’s more successful property investors, working with James Brown to establish parking business Tournament, which owns the City Works Depot. He won consent in 2018 and that was due to lapse in February this year. Rowntree was granted an extended consent until February 2025. He and partner Joanna are listed as the property’s owners.
Martyn Reesby’s Paradise Trust Company, owned by the Princess Wharf-based real estate financier, for his 8.8ha hilltop waterfront property. A 20m-diameter grass circle was identified as the spot.
The $24m house rose to prominence last decade when Reesby bought the place known as Te Rere Cove from David Parkinson and Dee Crawford, who built it.
Poderi Crisci Winery at 205a-215 Awaawaroa Rd was granted consent in 2013. The applicant was the Poderi Crisci/Mari Family Trust. This year, the Herald reported the 7.7ha property as being for sale, with 2.5ha of established vines producing grapes for the estate.
Sir Noel Robinson’s Kermit Trust. He has been an active developer over many years, a philanthropist and founded the manufacturing company Robinson Industries. He led many large property development ventures, including Auckland’s Highbrook Industrial Estate and Paraparaumu Airport on the Kāpiti Coast. He is a nephew of the late Sir Woolf Fisher, the philanthropist and co-founder of iconic Kiwi manufacturer Fisher & Paykel. Robinson’s helipad consent was granted in 2015. “We’ve got it there because we’re sort of out on a limb. It’s in case of emergency and a helicopter has only landed there a couple of times, mainly as a trial,” Robinson told the Herald on Sunday this week.
Ross Pendergrast in 2013. He and wife Dallas are significant property investors, their holdings including Auckland malls. Their business, Ladstone, previously owned the Pakuranga Plaza, which it sold to GYP Properties of Asia for $96m. Their business owns the Glenfield shopping centre.
John Donnelley of the Cowes Bay Estate won confirmation of existing use rights for a helipad in 2013. That allowed the owners or their guests to arrive or leave from the sprawling waterfront estate by air. Planning documents cited the property as being 30.5ha. The Herald has reported how that estate had been for sale for some years. The home and farm estate on four separate titles were advertised at $28m with a 700m beachfront and a “sweeping Gone With the Wind style of grandeur with a spacious foyer and wide staircase”.
Michelle Bartlett of Britain won council consent for a landing pad at her 5.7ha property. Her application was reported in 2021 when the property was listed for sale. The planning application also noted that listing. An island property owned by the late American billionaire Julien Robertson had 12 helicopter movements a day permitted, her application said. Movements are also permitted from nearby Awaawaroa Rd, the application noted.
Waikopou Bay Lodge got confirmation of its existing use rights for a helipad on its Cowes Bay Rd property in 2013. It hosts weddings beside an infinity pool, with a covered walkway around the house where canapes and champagne can be served and an inside reception area for up to 120 guests.
Neil and Linda Van Duyn. The couple are directors of the Rural Direct business. Established in 1989, the company manufactures and supplies polyethylene pipe, corrugated pipe, tanks, troughs and other farm supplies.
Mark Wheeler and Deborah Simpson. A maximum of 250 movements are allowed annually, consisting of 125 flights in and out.
Nicsha Farac’s Te Matuku Holdings, which owns an 18ha picturesque waterfront property. Farac is an Auckland property and agribusiness investor.
Fran Wyborn. In 2020, she launched a new charitable trust with a $500,000 donation from her. Due Drop Foundation focuses on intervention and community programmes.
Ewen Stevenson. His application involved 45sq m of earthworks and the removal of eight generally protected trees including māpou, māhoe, mānuka, kokekohe and kōwhai.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 23 years, having won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
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