Park your plane at home in Te Kōwhai residential airpark
Photo:
Supplied
Dan Readman begun learning to fly at Te Kōwhai when he was 13-years-old.
"The runway was first established around 1967 by Max Clear who was a farmer but also a passionate aviation enthusiast," Readman said.
"He built several aeroplanes onsite and developed a certified Microlight called the Bantam which he produced onsite.
"My father Barry was also a passionate aviation enthusiast and went to meet Max Clear and purchased the seventh aeroplane Max ever built," he said.
Readman went on to become an aeroplane pilot for Air New Zealand and owns a small Russian Yak for personal flying.
He was a part of bringing Te Kōwhai Airpark to reality and said he would build his own house within the community.
"Our concept was to not just have an airport where an aeroplane would be put into a hanger and the pilot drives home, it was a way of having your home and your aeroplane all on site with like-minded people and actually living in that community," Readman said.
Dan Readman learned to fly at Te Kōwhai. Now he wants to build a home in a new airpark being built there.
Photo:
Supplied.
Fifty-eight sections, each with its own hanger, are available at this stage with more to follow as the development grows.
These cost anywhere from under $1 million to nearly $3m, and 11 had already sold or were under contract.
However, having your neighbour's plane taxi past your kitchen and take off over your swimming pool might not be for everyone.
Peter Gore lived near the development and said there was a lot of community concern around the project when it was first proposed.
He blamed Waikato District Council for feeding early backlash to the airpark and said he felt the council begun consulting with the public on the airpark before it really understood the proposal itself.
"That just drives speculation, rumour, and creates a whole lot of noise, and then the communities get revved up and next thing you are making submissions," he said.
Gore was worried at the time the aerodrome would become more like a commercial airport and he submitted against the proposal.
"I get what they are doing now and I'm actually quite happy with what's being proposed," he said.
Gore said he didn't hear anyone in the community worrying about the airpark anymore.
Waikato District Councillor Eugene Patterson said doing something new wasn't easy, and getting through the consenting and zoning requirements had taken almost a decade.
"It probably has had challenges in the earlier days - just people understanding how this works and what we were trying to achieve.
"But we got there - it has taken a bit of time - but we got there."
There were limitations on movements and aircraft noise, but Readman said people who were passionate about aviation often weren't as bothered by aircraft noises as others might be.
Andrew Vincent worked for Forsters Development, which was part of the joint venture building the airpark.
Andrew Vincent from Forsters Development, which is part of the joint venture building the airpark at Te Kōwhai.
Photo:
Libby Kirkby-McLeod
He said having a neighbourhood where an aeroplane hangar and taxiway were standard mod-cons, wasn't as novel an idea as it might first appear.
"It's a new concept for New Zealand but not new for other parts of the world."
For example, airpark communities are common in America and Europe.
"Some of the partners actually went and visited a lot of these developments in America and got a few ideas - what to do and not to do in some of them, and brought those ideas back here," Vincent said.
Readman was on that trip and said the most successful airparks were ones that had a strong sense of community.
Patterson said the airpark was a pioneering idea, and the council was focused on bringing this kind of innovation to Waikato.
"If you are into aviation and that, to be able to fly in and down to the runway and be able to taxi down the road and into your backyard is something pretty unique."
He said it was an exciting development for the council and the district as a whole and didn't believe there was a better location then Te Kōwhai for easy aviation access to the best of the North Island.
Vincent agreed.
"We are so fortunate with how close everything is when you start flying as the crow flies. We're 20 minutes to Coromandel, probably five minutes over the hill to Raglan," he said.
Work had begun on site and the first residents, including Readman, hoped to have moved in in about two years' time.
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