Auckland millionaires absent from controversial helipad hearing
Thursday was the final day for the applicants to satisfy the panel of independent commissioners that their application meets the demands and conditions of a helicopter pad at their Rawene Ave property in Westmere, Auckland.
The resource consent application hearing was adjourned on Thursday, with the couple absent from the hearing.
Anna Mowbray of Zuru Toys and the job platform Zeil, and former All-Black Ali Williams' contentious application hearing has gone ahead this month at the Auckland Town Hall, without their physical presence throughout.
During the hearing, a panel of independent commissioners heard expert evidence and submissions from those opposing and supporting the application.
ADVERTISEMENT
The hearing was not yet officially closed, RNZ understood this could take another week with the panel now deliberating whether they required further information.
The independent panel would then have a 15 working day window to announce a decision, meaning the couple would have to wait until later next month to hear an outcome.
The applicants' lawyer, Chris Simmons, asked the panel not to let their absence influence their decision making.
"I'll take a moment just to encourage the panel not to read anything into the applicants' physical absence from the hearing," he said.
"They are absolutely invested in this application, they've been involved and, in fact, I think that they've observed online, every minute of proceedings.
"The applicants have adopted a comprehensive approach to consultation and undertaken a thorough examination of potential adverse effects that been identified," the lawyer said.
According to Auckland Council, out of 1397 written submissions made on the application, a majority — 1227, or 87% — opposed the helipad. One hundred and eight were supportive, and 12 were neutral.
ADVERTISEMENT
www.rnz.co.nz
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
13 minutes ago
- Otago Daily Times
Govt accepts 'Price it Right' petition
By Anneke Smith of RNZ Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis has accepted Consumer New Zealand's 'Price It Right' petition for accurate supermarket pricing. The petition, signed by 25,000 people, was presented to Willis on the steps of Parliament this morning. Willis wrote to the major supermarkets in June this year, warning them against misleading promotional practices and pricing errors. Consumer NZ chief executive John Duffy said supermarkets have had plenty of opportunity to sort it out for themselves. "It's time for the government to step in and make supermarkets price it right, and tens of thousands of New Zealanders agree. "People want clear pricing rules, automatic compensation and stronger penalties when supermarkets get it wrong." In 2024, the Commerce Commission estimated pricing errors were likely costing shoppers tens of millions of dollars a year. "If supermarkets can't get their pricing right, they - rather than shoppers - should face the consequences," Duffy said. Consumer NZ's petition asked the government to introduce a mandatory supermarket pricing accuracy code: • With clear pricing rules. • Requiring supermarkets to automatically compensate consumers when pricing errors occur. • Requiring shoppers' right to be clearly disclosed both in store and online. • Infringement notice powers and much higher penalties for misleading pricing and promotions. "We know that all the problems in the supermarket sector won't be fixed overnight, but new rules like those in our proposed code will help put money back in the pockets of New Zealanders," Duffy said. 'Time supermarkets pulled up their socks' Willis told RNZ she had received assurances new processes were in place after putting major supermarkets on notice in June. "They then wrote back to me and pledged that they are going to have refund policies in place from now on; in the case of Foodstuffs that hadn't previously been the case. "Now, if a pricing error is found, you get your money back and you keep to you get to keep the goods. "They've also pledged that they will advertise these refund policies and they have pledged that they are investing significant sums and better training for their staff and better systems to stop these errors happening in the first place." They were important commitments and the government would hold major supermarkets accountable to them, Willis said. "I have been consulting on strengthening the infringement regime in the Fair Trading Act, strengthening penalties and potentially introducing civil proceedings so that it is easier to prosecute supermarkets when they do the wrong thing. "I will consider the submissions on that consultation before taking recommendations to Cabinet." Asked if it was fair the onus was still on consumers to notice price discrepancies, the minister said it wasn't. "I do worry that for every person who's noticed it, there are other New Zealanders who've been ripped off and haven't had the opportunity to get redress. "So that's why we are strengthening our approach in this area. We think it's time that the supermarkets pulled up their socks."
Otago Daily Times
13 minutes ago
- Otago Daily Times
'Price it Right' petition accepted
By Anneke Smith of RNZ Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis has accepted Consumer New Zealand's 'Price It Right' petition for accurate supermarket pricing. The petition, signed by 25,000 people, was presented to Willis on the steps of Parliament this morning. Willis wrote to the major supermarkets in June this year, warning them against misleading promotional practices and pricing errors. Consumer NZ chief executive John Duffy said supermarkets have had plenty of opportunity to sort it out for themselves. "It's time for the government to step in and make supermarkets price it right, and tens of thousands of New Zealanders agree. "People want clear pricing rules, automatic compensation and stronger penalties when supermarkets get it wrong." In 2024, the Commerce Commission estimated pricing errors were likely costing shoppers tens of millions of dollars a year. "If supermarkets can't get their pricing right, they - rather than shoppers - should face the consequences," Duffy said. Consumer NZ's petition asked the government to introduce a mandatory supermarket pricing accuracy code: • With clear pricing rules. • Requiring supermarkets to automatically compensate consumers when pricing errors occur. • Requiring shoppers' right to be clearly disclosed both in store and online. • Infringement notice powers and much higher penalties for misleading pricing and promotions. "We know that all the problems in the supermarket sector won't be fixed overnight, but new rules like those in our proposed code will help put money back in the pockets of New Zealanders," Duffy said. 'Time supermarkets pulled up their socks' Willis told RNZ she had received assurances new processes were in place after putting major supermarkets on notice in June. "They then wrote back to me and pledged that they are going to have refund policies in place from now on; in the case of Foodstuffs that hadn't previously been the case. "Now, if a pricing error is found, you get your money back and you keep to you get to keep the goods. "They've also pledged that they will advertise these refund policies and they have pledged that they are investing significant sums and better training for their staff and better systems to stop these errors happening in the first place." They were important commitments and the government would hold major supermarkets accountable to them, Willis said. "I have been consulting on strengthening the infringement regime in the Fair Trading Act, strengthening penalties and potentially introducing civil proceedings so that it is easier to prosecute supermarkets when they do the wrong thing. "I will consider the submissions on that consultation before taking recommendations to Cabinet." Asked if it was fair the onus was still on consumers to notice price discrepancies, the minister said it wasn't. "I do worry that for every person who's noticed it, there are other New Zealanders who've been ripped off and haven't had the opportunity to get redress. "So that's why we are strengthening our approach in this area. We think it's time that the supermarkets pulled up their socks."
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
What will encourage NZers to have more babies?
New population data has confirmed that New Zealand will need to rely more on migration to offset an ageing population in the coming decades. Photo: RNZ More affordable and suitable housing is likely to be a better incentive to get people to have babies than "baby bonuses", economists say. New population data has confirmed that New Zealand will need to rely more on migration to offset an ageing population in the coming decades. Stats NZ said on Tuesday that the estimated population of New Zealand was 5.3 million as at 30 June. The median age of women was 39 and men 37.4. In the year, the population grew by 0.7 percent. The total fertility rate was 1.57 births per woman, marginally up from 1.55 a year earlier. The rate has been below the replacement rate of 2.1 since 2013. Treasury earlier warned that could cause problems as the cost of an ageing population would be covered by a smaller number of working taxpayers. In the 1970s, there were about seven people aged 15 to 64 for everyone aged 65 and over. Today there are four and in 50 years there will be about two. Infometrics lead demographer Nick Brunsdon said it was a situation that had been "in the mail" since the 1960s. "If the average level of migration is 30,000 a year over the next from now to eternity our population is still likely to start declining in probably the 2050s. "Migration is the only thing that can save us but it won't entirely save us over the long term. "We've already become much more reliant on migration than we used to be but we're going to become even more reliant on migration and even more prone to those wild swings that we get in migration." He said with most households needing two earners, having children was more challenging. "That's probably where the action is in terms of making it easier for people to leave and then re-enter the workforce - helping with that is much more effective than any kind of big cash payment, I think it would need to be quite a large cash payment to move the dial. "Other countries have tried throwing money around as a sort of Hail Mary on that front. But the flip side is it's cheaper to get migrants." The US has been reported to be looking at offering US$5000 "baby bonuses". South Korea was paying 2 million won. China offers 3600 yuan. But Brunsdon said that was unlikely to be the solution. "I don't think anyone's going to change their plans for $5000," Brunsdon said. "We can look and see other countries, there are plenty through Europe that are well below 1.5, China's at about 1.3 children per woman and no one's managed to really avert that in a substantial way." He said it was a question of managing the impact. "Net migration is really, really weak. Down below 20,000 and we have a net loss of population in the 20 to 34-year-old age group. More young Kiwis are deciding to leave than come here so the challenge is going to get more acute in the coming years because if you're losing the 20 to 34-year-olds they're not going to be here having kids." Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said it would take some time before the population tipped into decline. He said there were "push and pull" factors for the falling birth rate. "We have seen birth rates dropping worldwide, it's not just in rich countries, either. "As countries get richer on average, they tend to have fewer children. That's something we see everywhere. But there is also an element of push vectors ... there is a reasonable amount of evidence that unaffordability of housing affects this as well. "It means that people form families later in life. It means they are having fewer children ... the short answer is to do things that improve the lives of everyone in the country and then population trends will change as a side effect of it." That could mean cheaper housing and an increased variety of options to meet different stages of life, he said. "More generally just making kind of housing development more family friendly - access to transport and things like that." That might not only help family size but also encourage people to stay in the country, Gordon said. "The thing is any kind of population policy will ultimately be thwarted by the fact that people can choose to leave. "If we do things to make it more attractive for people to stay. Then, as a byproduct to that, you will get more natural population growth. I mean, another way of putting it is there's no point paying people to have more children if half of them leave the country when they reach adulthood anyway." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
