Mike's Minute: Why do we get exercised about helicopters?

Helicopters are such an Auckland issue. 

I love helicopters. I have flown in a lot of helicopters. 

Our place is on a flight path north. People who go to the Bay of Islands and to the flash golf courses north of Auckland fly over our place. 

On a sunny Saturday they start 6.30am-ish in summer. On a still day you hear them coming maybe 30 seconds before you might see them. 

Because I like them, I have never understood the Waiheke moaners who can't stand them and want them banned on their island. 

To me a helicopter is full of people going places, i.e. tourists and golfers. These are people we like and want. 

If you haven't followed the story, Ali Williams, once an All Black, and Anna Mowbray, part of the Zuru clan, are a couple and they have a house in Westmere, which is an inner-city suburb in Auckland. They applied to land their chopper at their place. 

Cue the horror. 

Far too much money and time has been spent on this – over 1400 submissions. That’s right, 1400. And what was mad about it was a number of submissions submitted that they had no view. 

You can't make this up. The number of people who are clearly bored out of their minds is unreal. 

Many a submission against their use of a chopper in suburbia came from people who don’t even live in Auckland. Not only were they not close to the landing pad, but they're not even in the same city, i.e. it's got nothing to do with you. 

Lawyers, council staff, submissions, hearings, and Lord knows how many hours and dollars and, as you will have heard, Williams and Mowbray win. They can land at their place two times a day for no more than 10 times a month. 

There is nothing, said the Commissioners, untoward, unacceptable, or significantly out of character with helicopter noise, which I think is fair enough. 

But two questions; 

1) How many got exercised out of petty jealousy, i.e. rich folks doing stuff we don’t like? 

2) How unpopular does it make them? And do they care? 

There is of course the precedent now. Suburbia and choppers are no big deal. 

Very Auckland. 

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