KEY POINTS:
North Shore Mayor George Wood says he wants a citizens referendum on proposals to have a commercial airport at Whenuapai.
Mr Wood said yesterday the prospect of civil flights using the base had become a hot election issue, particularly in the city's north, Greenhithe, Albany and East Coast
Bays, which are in the base's flight path.
The council had left it to the new council to be sworn in after next month's elections to carry out an analysis of the impact of any airport.
But Mr Wood has come under fire from challengers Callum Blair and Andrew Williams who have already declared positions against any commercial airport.
Last October, the North Shore decided to join Rodney District Council and Waitakere City Council and infrastructure investor Infratil in forming an airport company.
Mr Wood voted for it, but said if a referendum showed 50 per cent or more were against any airport, he too would go against the proposal.
"It's an issue where people have entrenched views one way or the other and it's reached a stage where we have to get clear indications from the community."
He said it would take months to present material to give a greater understanding of the effects and issues before people could vote on it.
A referendum of the city's 149,000 electors would cost $150,000.
Mr Williams' policy last week received endorsement by the Whenuapai Airbase Action Group , which has 1000 members over North Shore and Waitakere.
This was after the former councillor said he believed an investigation would show significant environmental effects of noise and pollution for homes and schools in the flight path. "I've firmed up my thinking ... I think it's a non goer."
Mr Blair, a councillor from the Northern Ward who campaigns under the banner "No Commercial Airport", said he was surprised at the action group's endorsement for Mr Williams because of his earlier stance.
"But I'm still opposed - the most pre-eminent threat to our lifestyle on the North Shore is the commercial airport."
Mr Blair and Mr Williams are also standing for the council in a campaign which is intensely more competitive than for some years because of the retirement of four long-serving councillors. Apart from the 11 sitting councillors, candidates include former MPs Ann Hartley and Grant Gillon.
Mrs Hartley was the city's first mayor in 1989 and is a three-term Labour MP.
Mr Gillon was an MP for six years and is now a lecturer and union official.
Notable among other candidates are rates reformers David Thornton, founder of nomorerates.com and Brian Nicolle, who ran John Banks' controversial Auckland mayoralty re-election campaign in 2004 and works for Act MP Rodney Hide.