Housewives unite against private chopper pads

The Real Housewives of Auckland. Julia Sloane, Gilda Kirkpatrick, Michelle Blanchard, Anne Batley Burton, Angela Stone and Louise Wallace. Photo / Supplied

It seems if you travel by helicopter in Auckland you may not want to be seen speaking about your views on private landing pads in the suburbs in case you ever need to land on one.

Spy sent out a friendly "for" or "against" question to more than a dozen helicopter users, regarding the proposed helicopter private landing builds in Sarsfield St, Herne Bay and Paritai Drive, Ōrākei.

The moot: whether they thought people should live and let live in the hood or whether it was not within the reasonable expectations of neighbourly behaviour and community spirit to oppose helicopter landings in your neighbourhood.

Uncharacteristically, nearly all recipients of Spy's email remained silent.

The proposed private landings creating headlines are Tappenden Holdings' property on Paritai Drive, controlled by a group of wealthy businessmen including Trevor and Dean Farmer, George France, Greg Horton and Dean Hamilton and the now infamous case of Briscoe's owner Rod Duke and the ongoing saga of his private helipad creation in Sarsfield St. Last week former Real Housewife of Auckland Louise Wallace, came out swinging against her neighbour's chopper-landing plans on a Paritai Drive property: "Do you want a helicopter falling out of the sky in a massive fireball on your house, kids and pets?" she wrote on Twitter.

She tells Spy from the United Kingdom this week that everyone who has approached her is against this proposal.

Anne, Gilda and Louise. Photo / Supplied

Her Housewives co-star and fellow Paritai Drive home-owner Gilda Kirkpatrick has joined her, telling Spy: "I believe Mechanics Bay is close and practical enough to our neighbourhood, to take away any need for a chopper pad. The noise and impracticality of it in the middle of a compact residential area is obvious to anyone with logic. It's absolutely not welcomed nor appropriate at all."

Another Housewife also shares her former co-stars views, Parnell-based Anne Batley Burton says "if we are going to become more urbanised I think the community needs to be more tolerant of others and their needs in all areas of life".

"This not only applies to situations such as urban private helicopter landings and their noise and nuisance, it should also be applied to acceptance of animals in the community such as cats and dogs," says Batley Burton .

One of Auckland's wealthiest rich listers, who has a long history of chopper flights who did not want to be named, responded to Spy saying: "I am not a fan of having helicopter pads in suburban Auckland. It is absolutely unnecessary and very indulgent on the part of the owners. We can always drive to Mechanics Bay, Pikes Point, or the North Shore. The grief that helicopters cause the neighbours is enormous. I have no problem if helicopters land on large properties in a countryside setting, that I completely understand."

Last week, a Herald poll saw the public vote overwhelmingly against private helicopter pads in the suburbs.

Auckland councillor Chris Darby told the Herald last week, that Auckland rules for helicopter landing pads on private properties were "not as stringent as they should be" and that the system should be changed.

By Ricardo Simich