Mayor urges PM to save Kāpiti Airport, Helen Clark urges 'careful consideration'
Wednesday, 9 December 2020
The mayor of Kāpiti Coast is appealing to the Prime Minister to save Kāpiti Airport from potential closure, while former Prime Minister Helen Clark urged the Government to give “careful consideration” to the request.
Mayor K Gurunathan wrote to Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday, asking the Government for a commitment over the future of the embattled airport.
In his letter, Gurunathan referred to a 2005 incident in which a charted plane with Clark onboard landed at the Paraparaumu airport, a 45-minute drive north of Wellington, after a door opened mid-flight. He said the incident emphasised the airport's importance as an alternative to Wellington Airport in emergencies.
Speaking to Stuff on Wednesday, Clark stopped short of backing Gurunathan's plea, saying she did not want to “give advice” on the matter.
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But, she said Kāpiti Airport’s proximity to Wellington could prove “very helpful” to relief efforts in the city's northern suburbs if a major disaster, such as an earthquake, were to strike the capital.
“Clearly the case the mayor is making needs to be given very careful consideration.”
The day after the dramatic flight in April 2005, Clark told media she feared for her life as two police officers struggled for more than 10 minutes to close the aircraft’s door.
The then-Prime Minister was left with a badly bruised arm after she was knocked into metal as the plane hit an air pocket, resulting in severe turbulence.
More than 15 years later, she recalled how the plane was forced to land at Paraparaumu because Wellington Airport was closed.
Clark said the incident showed Kāpiti Airport could serve as a valuable “back up” flight route in and out of Wellington as it was much closer than the next nearest major airport in Palmerston North.
Gurunathan's plea to Ardern follows months of speculation that the airport's current owner, NZPropCo, planned to close the airport soon.
The mayor has been a longtime supporter of keeping it open, as well as returning the land to mana whenua.
The Government took the land from Māori under the Public Works Act in 1939. The Crown then sold it to a private company in 1995.
Gurunathan has previously warned lives could be lost if the airport closed as it is used as a back up runway for urgent medical flights when planes were unable to land in Wellington.
In September, he wrote to five Cabinet ministers, including then-Transport Minister Phil Twyford and Andrew Little, who was responsible for Te Tiriti O Waitangi negotiations, asking for them to step in and secure the airport's future.
Dissatisfied with the ministers’ responses, which he described as “confusing”, Gurunathan took his case to the Prime Minister.
He said in the letter it was his “last plea for your Government to make a clear and comprehensive decision on the current and future role of the Paraparaumu Airport”.
Puketapu Hapū ki Paraparaumu spokesman George Jenkins, a descendant of the land's original owners, said while discussions between the hapū and NZPropCo were going well, and he was hopeful for a positive resolution, the details of a potential agreement had not been reached.
“When that is going to be, how that is going to be, I don’t know. There are a lot of factors to be considered in working towards such a resolution, one of which would clearly be the progression the settlement of our claim before the Waitangi Tribunal.”.
Meanwhile, the hapū had been promoting its vision for developing the Paraparaumu community, including the airport, Jenkins said.
NZPropCo and the Prime Minister's Office have not responded to requests for comment.