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Waitakere City Council's staunch campaign for commercial flights at Whenuapai Airbase will be raised with the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Auckland Governance as a weakness in the system.
Whenuapai Airbase Action Group chairman Russell Stewart said Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey was bulldozing through opposition to a second
commercial airport regardless of the effect that would have on North Shore City residents in the flight path.
"It's something we will bring up with the commission. Here we have one city taking a course of action which would not affect the majority of its citizens but which would badly affect residents of a neighbouring city."
Mr Stewart said the majority of North Shore residents would be upset over the Waitakere council's refusal this month to release North Shore City Council from the North West Auckland Airport company.
The Defence Force is looking at withdrawing from the base between 2014 and 2018.
The base is in Waitakere and the council invited North Shore and Rodney councils to join it and investment company Infratil to form the company.
Mr Stewart said North Shore residents showed at the October elections they were opposed to an airport.
"But it seems we cannot do anything about the decision made by Waitakere City Council. We cannot turf them out - we turfed out our old council here and we hoped the new council would help us and now we find it has its hands tied by Waitakere."
North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams reported to the council meeting last night on the refusal of the other three partners in the company to let North Shore pull out.
He said the terms of the shareholders' agreement made no provision for a partner withdrawing within the first five-year period unless this was agreed by the other parties.
Mr Williams said he had taken up the invitation of Defence Minister Phil Goff to express the Shore's views on the air base's future, as part of updating the business case for a withdrawal to Ohakea in the Manawatu.
He met Mr Goff last Thursday and this week the council will repeat its case against joint use of the airbase to a government officials group.
Mayor Harvey said losing the Air Force would cost his city's economy $250 million.
He said his council was being staunch and visionary - thinking of air travel needs when another million people lived in the region.
"That's why we have told North Shore that it's in the best interests of the future generations of Shore citizens that they should not leave a business deal."
Mr Harvey said the deal was an example of local government co-operation, acting on the Government's invitation to negotiate a partnership.
