KEY POINTS:
A poll of 1100 North Shore residents shows that most believe a small regional commercial airport at Whenuapai is worth exploring.
Airport promoters say the findings in the poll, taken after the October city council elections, challenge the belief of the mayor and most councillors that they have a clear mandate to strongly oppose any commercial flights at the air force base.
The new council wants to pull out of the North West Auckland Airport development company on environmental grounds.
But in the TNS poll, commissioned by the company, two out of three residents said benefits and drawbacks should be assessed before any decision was made.
A desire for more information before making up their mind was expressed by 41 per cent of respondents.
Two out of three were happy for North Shore council to be a shareholder while commercial use was properly evaluated. Other partners are Waitakere City Council and Rodney District Councils and investor Infratil.
Residents said the main advantage of a commercial airport would be having less distance to travel than to Auckland International Airport at Mangere.
Noise and living under flight paths were the main disadvantages.
The poll was of 57 per cent of people who had voted in the council election and 42 per cent who had not.
People who voted were more likely to feel the proposal was a "bad idea" and most who did not vote were undecided.
Waitakere council's move to change its district plan to preserve Whenuapai as an airfield won favour from 73 per cent of respondents.
Assurances there would be no more than seven flight paths over the North Shore and that noise levels would not be significantly greater, would not change the mood of 82 per cent of those presently opposed.
However, such assurances would sway 54 per cent of undecided residents to support an airport.
The airport proposal was the single most mentioned issue by voters and an important factor behind new Mayor Andrew Williams' win.
A total of 34 per cent polled said the airport was their reason for voting for a specific candidate.
The poll sample favoured Mr Williams, with 39 per cent saying they voted for him and 27 per cent supporting Mr Wood.
Mr Williams said his own poll - talking to residents during and after his five-month election campaign - gave a more accurate picture.
"The vast majority are opposed to Whenuapai and people who were undecided about it now say the right decision has been made."
Rodney Mayor Penny Webster said the research warranted a second look at the proposal for commercial services at Whenuapai.
There was public support for a smaller commercial airport within the permitted air services envelope.
"We hope to discuss the results of the research with Mr Williams early in the New Year."
