KEY POINTS:
The new Mayor of North Shore City had some help towards his election from the result of a Herald-DigiPoll survey published early in the campaign. It showed him to be trailing the incumbent, George Wood, at that stage by a hefty margin. The poll could have caused complacency among those who might have turned out to vote for Mr Wood if the race had seemed close, but more certainly it made the challenger, Andrew Williams, adopt a cause that turned out well for him.
That cause was opposition to commercial use of Whenuapai airfield. A residents' group, fearful of flight noise, already had a champion in the mayoral race who our poll found to be running third. Until then, Mr Williams had been content to campaign on rates control and had taken an equivocal view of the airport issue. After the poll he changed his tune.
The residents' action group decided he had a better chance than their previous champion, who withdrew in his favour. When the votes were counted on Saturday, Mr Williams had captured the mayoralty by a margin of fewer than 2000 votes in a typically low turn-out. The anti-airport campaign has claimed his victory as a "clear message" against the proposal put to the Government by Infratil and the Waitakere City Council.
It is no such thing. The turnout was short of a majority of North Shore voters and Mr Williams won less than half the turnout. Furthermore, the campaign mounted by the airport opponents was misleading. It published a map of imagined flight paths covering the entire North Shore. It was based on two runways at Whenuapai. Infratil says there is no such proposal. The residents' group replies that in time there might be.
North Shore has yet to have a proper debate on the Whenuapai proposal, which in any case remains just a gleam in the eye of Infratil and Waitakere's mayor, Bob Harvey. The Government sounds unenthusiastic and has delayed forcing the Air Force from Whenuapai since the Infratil proposal was floated. Auckland International Airport Ltd has argued strenuously against a rival operation in the northwest of the city and is proceeding with plans for its own second runway.
Meanwhile, Infratil has joined the jockeying for a takeover of Auckland Airport and if it figures in its eventual control Infratil would seem unlikely to continue its push for Whenuapai. The Waitakere council is pressing ahead with a zoning change plan to allow the airfield to be put to commercial use and Mr Harvey's re-election suggests there is little objection to it in the west.
The new North Shore council should canvas its population more carefully before accepting the election as a reliable referendum on the idea. Whenuapai is not going to be on Mangere's scale. It appeals as a more convenient airport for the north and western suburbs of Auckland, particularly for business flights to Wellington and other centres.
It might also attract budget airlines for services to Australia and the Pacific. But for long-haul international flights passengers would probably still have to travel to Mangere, two hours at peak time from the Shore. Most voters do not make commuter flights to other centres very often but those who do could mount a strong campaign for a second Auckland airport in the northwest.
The claim that the flightpath would present a nuisance to residents and devalue real estate needs to be critically examined. The sight and sound of aircraft overhead are among the more easily accepted drawbacks of living in a metropolitan environment. The rapid recent growth of Auckland's north and west demands the nearby airfield be retained for civil use.
