Mayor urges Prime Minister to save Kāpiti Airport, Helen Clark urges ‘careful consideration’

The mayor of Kāpiti Coast is calling on the prime minister to save Kāpiti airport from possible closure, while former prime minister Helen Clark urged the government to “carefully consider” the request.

Mayor K Gurunathan wrote to Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday, asking the government for a compromise on the future of the besieged airport.

In his letter, Gurunathan referred to a 2005 incident in which a registered plane with Clark on board landed at Paraparaumu Airport, a 45-minute drive north of Wellington, after a door was opened mid-flight. He said the incident emphasized the importance of the airport as an alternative to Wellington Airport in emergencies.

Talking to Things on Wednesday, Clark did not support Gurunathan’s request and said he did not want to “give advice” on the matter.

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However, he said the Kāpiti airport’s proximity to Wellington could prove “very useful” for relief efforts in the city’s northern suburbs if a major disaster such as an earthquake struck the capital.

“Clearly, the case that the mayor is defending must be considered very carefully.”

The day after the dramatic flight in April 2005, Clark told the media that he feared for his life as two police officers fought for more than 10 minutes to close the plane’s door.

The then Prime Minister was left with a badly bruised arm after she struck metal when the plane hit an airbag, causing severe turbulence.

More than 15 years later, he recalled how the plane was forced to land in Paraparaumu because the Wellington airport was closed.

Clark said the incident showed that Kāpiti airport could serve as a valuable “backup” flight route in and out of Wellington, as it was much closer than the next closest major airport in Palmerston North.

Gurunathan’s request 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 the Maori under the Public Works Act in 1939. The Crown then sold it to a private company in 1995.

Gurunathan previously warned that lives could be lost if the airport closed, as it is used as a backup runway for urgent medical flights when planes failed to land in Wellington.

In September, he wrote to five cabinet ministers, including then-Transport Minister Phil Twyford and Andrew Little, who is responsible for the Te Tiriti O Waitangi negotiations, asking them to step in and secure the future of the airport.

Dissatisfied with the ministers’ responses, which he described as “confusing”, Gurunathan took his case to the Prime Minister.

He said in the letter that it was his “last request for his government to make a clear and comprehensive decision on the current and future role of Paraparaumu airport.”

Puketapu Hapū ki Paraparaumu spokesman George Jenkins, a descendant of the land’s original owners, said that while discussions between the hapū and NZPropCo were going well, and he was hopeful of a positive resolution, details of the land had not been reached. a possible deal.

“When is that going to be, how it’s going to be, I don’t know. There are many factors that must be taken into account when working towards such a resolution, one of which would clearly be the progression of the settlement of our claim before the Waitangi Tribunal. “

Meanwhile, the hapū had been promoting their vision to develop the Paraparaumu community, including the airport, Jenkins said.

NZPropCo and the Prime Minister’s Office have not responded to requests for comment.