A multimillionaire couple's application for a helipad bordering Auckland's Waitematā Harbour will now be "publicly notified" after an outcry from neighbours - meaning opponents will get to have their say.
In April this year, Anna Mowbray - co-founder of toy company Zuru - and former All Black Ali Williams submitted a revised application to land a helicopter at their Rawene Ave property in Westmere, and with their own environmental impact assessments requested that it go ahead without a public hearing.
Neighbours - many with the group Quiet Sky Waitematā - were outraged that concerns about the consent would not be formally heard, including the safety of people using Cox's Bay and neighbouring areas, and for the habitat of native birds that roost on the headland of the Rawene Ave property.
In Mowbray and Williams' revised application, they said choppers would only fly to or from the property at either side of low tide to avoid disturbing roosting birds, and would only fly between 7am and 10pm.
As the application is to be notified, the public will now have an opportunity to have their say, either in support or against the consent, at a public hearing.
A clause to allow for operating a helicopter in emergencies outside of the set timeframe could mean flights disrupting "valuable foraging habitats" for birds.
"The extent of effects on habitats and ecological values is therefore unknown," his decision said.
The proposal to only fly bordering the bird's roosting times could result in accidental flights when the birds are there, and did not include detail about how it would work in practice, Farnsworth said.
Lighting and noise impacts were also considered, with the commissioner noting it could lead to "continuous" disturbance for roosting birds, as well as impacting breeding and forcing the birds to abandon the roost altogether.
He noted the impact on "health and longevity" of pohutukawa trees bordering the bay was unclear, and the effect of a helicopter on the trees has not been assessed.
For those reasons, he said the consent application would go ahead with public notification.
Elena Keith from Quiet Sky Waitematā said they were "absolutely delighted", as it would give community members who have written to the council an opportunity to be formally heard, should the application proceed.
Recreational groups and the wider neighbourhood were "really concerned", she said, with more than 100 letters sent to the council since the helicopter application was first made in 2021.
"I think this is a real win for a number of people and a number of groups who hold various concerns, that they get to have their voices heard."
She hoped the impact a helicopter pad could have on the safety of people using the bay would be recognised.
"By the very nature of helicopter resource applications in Auckland, they have to come over the sea, therefore they have to travel across the foreshore and across public beaches.
"There are quite a few people that use that space where this particular helicopter was going to land - whether they are kayaking or swimming or on paddle boards, also if the tide was out if they were walking.
"So it's not just the wildlife that were going to be directly impacted, it's also the community members."
Mowbray and Williams would have to decide whether to continue with the application, as the costs of a hearing would come out of their own pockets.
RNZ has contacted a representative for the couple for comment.
