PHOTO: LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF Defence Minister Ron Mark.
An Auckland property developer has found out the hard way that the city’s efforts to cram in more new homes has its limits.
Neil Construction, which owns land next to the Whenuapai airbase, thought it had won an Environment Court case to force the Defence Force to keep to stated noise limits spelt out in Auckland’s Unitary Plan.
The airforce has been exceeding those limits sometimes at night, testing Orion engines on the ground.
But Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his superpowers to trump the Court, saying if you move into an area where there is an operational airforce base, you need to accept there will be noise generated by military aircraft. He says his rare move was in the interests of national security.
READ MORE VIA STUFF