You might want to read this first to understand the problem at Ardmore:
Jet buffs fume at council's plans to curb noisy flights
Papakura residents call jet pilot Maurice Hayes and his friends "boy racers of the sky" and they want their wings clipped to stop what they say is excessive noise from the Warbirds' base at Ardmore Airport.
Mr Hayes, a Papakura chartered accountant, says residents' demands to restrict flights of former military jets such as his Cessna A37B, would be unworkable and strangle a booming Warbirds sport and industry based at Ardmore.
For eight years, Ardmore has been the base for Mr Hayes' 600 km/h jet, of a type that saw combat in Vietnam in the 1960s.
Three other former military jets fly out of there - a Hawker Hunter, a de Havilland Venom, and a Fouga.
The Papakura District Council proposes to restrict the jets' flying hours to between 7 am and 8 pm and to restrict the number of air movements into and out of the airport to 170 a year.
In addition, the council will introduce a "grandfather" regime for the jets.
The council says this will allow the jets already established to continue to operate but restrict the ability of new ones to locate there if they cannot meet the noise limit of 115 dBA set by the District Plan.
Mr Hayes said yesterday that he was prepared to fight jet restrictions in the Environment Court and "all the way to the Privy Council, if need be".
He said a 170-flight annual limit was ridiculous.
Apart from their historical value, former military jets performed at celebrations and air shows around the country, and their mock attacks on Royal New Zealand Navy warships tested ships' gunnery and radar defence systems.
"So, here I am, doing a contract for the Navy ... I go 140 miles out to sea, fuel resources to the right limit, attack the ship and I go to come home and Ardmore says 'sorry old son, you can't come back because the 170 limit has been reached'. Where do I go?"
Mr Hayes said Ardmore was the only place for the former military jets because it was the only rural airfield that could handle the growth of the Warbirds movement.
"It is a national asset with its rural parameters and should be protected as such - you cannot build an airport like Ardmore again," he said
But the chairman of the Ardmore Residents Action group, Earl White, said the council was largely ignoring nearly 200 submissions from the local community on District Plan provisions for the airport.
"A small group of wealthy boy racers of the sky, and the airport owners, have been given free rein to ride roughshod over the community."
Ardmore, though only 5km from Papakura township, would be the only aerodrome in New Zealand allowed to generate such excessive noise levels.
Only some improvements were expected from council moves to restrict circuit flying training to before 10pm and helicopters having to cross the aerodrome boundary at a minimum of 152 metres.
The plan changes allow for one air show a year.
Papakura Mayor David Buist said the council had to balance the needs of a thriving and unique aeronautical industry in the district with protecting the amenity, health and safety of the community.
Ardmore Airport
* Started in 1943 as a United States Air Force operational base and also used for training New Zealand pilots.
* Sold by the Government in 1995 to a private company, Tramcent Holdings, and Ardmore Airport Ltd was set up to manage and operate the airfield.
* It is the busiest airport in New Zealand, with up to 215,000 movements a year.
* Base for about 300 aircraft, 80 clubs and businesses, including Warbirds Association
