The owner of Kapiti Coast Airport in Paraparaumu has reached an agreement with a potential buyer.
By Justin Wong of Local Democracy Reporting
Land Information New Zealand confirmed on Tuesday it had “engaged” with the airport’s holding company under section 40 of the Public Works Act, which required land no longer needed for public work to be offered back to its original owner or successor.
An airport spokesperson said on Wednesday that “a sale and purchase agreement is in place”, but noted the section 40 process is run by Land Information NZ, so it was “not appropriate” to comment further.
They declined to provide details of the agreement, citing commercial sensitivity.
Property developer NZ PropCo bought the airport in 2019 from Todd Property Group, wanting to close it to build houses.
But that would require changing the district plan through the local Kapiti Coast District Council to rezone the land from being an “Airport Zone”.
The airport’s origins dated back to 1939, when the Government forcibly took the land where the airport sits from the Puketapu hapū of Te Āti Awa ki Kāpiti to build a military aerodrome for the war effort under the Public Works Act.
Although the law required selling surplus public works land needed to be first offered back to original owners, that did not happen when the civilian airport privatised in 1995 and sold surplus land on Avion Terrace in 1999.
The Crown admitted in 2022 it breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi over the 1999 sale for not properly protecting the interests of Puketapu.
During a recent election debate held by the Kapiti Coast Chamber of Commerce, National MP Tim Costley said there were two offers for the airport, including from Hāpai Property, a conglomerate of mostly out-of-Wellington iwi that want to turn the land into housing, on the condition the airport was closed before the sale.
Although he and Labour’s Sophie Handford backed keeping the airport, Costley ruled out any possibility of the Government buying it.
“Kapiti Airport should be saved; we don’t want out-of-town developers trying to make a buck off the back of Kapiti locals,” he said on Tuesday, arguing it was critical in emergencies, for LifeFlight planes to land when Wellington Airport was closed.
But former Kapiti Coast district councillor Gwynn Compton said Costley was lobbying everyone but government ministers to intervene.
“He’s demanding the airport owners to keep it open but he’s not demanding anything of central government,” Compton said.
“They’re the ones who have the powers, they’ve got the financial resources and they’ve got the ability to move quickly.”
Sounds Air remains the only airline with scheduled flights from the Kāpiti Coast to Nelson and Blenheim, after Air Chathams suspended its Auckland service in late July, saying the combination of rising fuel costs, maintenance, labour, airport charges, air traffic control fees and compliance meant the airline lost money for every flight.
Air New Zealand once flew to Paraparaumu from Auckland, but pulled out in 2018.
– Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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