Trains not planes: The debate over Kapiti airport

Kapiti airport is closing. Yet the re-elected National party MP and the Kapiti Coast District Council mayor are campaigning to keep it open.

It’s time that Kapiti Coast District Council recognised that they have been backing a loser. An uneconomic airport with far better alternative uses. The council need to get back on track with their climate commitments and throw their weight behind proposals to bring back a night train.

About seven years ago Kapiti Coast District Council stated “We've heard calls from our residents, businesses, and citizen groups that Council needs to take stronger action on climate change, so in 2019 we declared a climate emergency and in 2021 we adopted a Climate Emergency Action Framework.”

In the debate about the impending closure of Kapiti airport, the council seem to have forgotten that promise. After years of unsuccessfully trying to support the airport, including through the use of ratepayer funds to encourage airlines to provide flights to and from Kapiti, it is still arguing to keep the airport open. That is despite clear evidence of people voting with their feet and wallets not to support the flights out of Kapiti airport. Air New Zealand, once flew to Christchurch and Auckland. They withdrew the flights first to Christchurch, then to Auckland. Air Chathams was supported by the council to fill the gap with a daily flight to Auckland. But, in the end, due to lack of demand, they too have pulled out.

In 2021, I wrote an article for Newsroom with the title The future is 15-minute neighbourhoods not $150m ghost airports arguing that Kapiti airport should be closed with the land far better used for housing. I still hold that view.

The alternative land use is medium to high density housing, with some retail, a hotel and an emergency heliport. Building the right housing, in the right places, helps reduce emissions both directly and indirectly. To tackle our housing and climate crisis we need:

1. Well insulated, easy to heat, affordable housing, preferably with solar panels on the roof – and lots of it.

2. Housing intensification. New housing should be within easy walking and cycling distance of shopping centres, medical facilities, swimming pools and libraries, schools and main transport hubs, especially railway stations. This is a version of Transit Oriented Development or a 15 minute neighbourhood. The Kapiti airport land fits these criteria. Google maps suggest it is a 15-minute bike ride and a 20-minute bus trip from the current terminal site to the Paraparaumu railway station. But quicker routes could be developed with suitable subdivision designs. Denser housing within easy reach of a railway station helps support public transport.

3. Not to build on prime agricultural land. The airport is on former sand dunes with some significant wetlands that can be incorporated into a housing development.

The Future is Rail has long argued that we need to bring back a night train between Wellington and Auckland, including a stop in Kapiti. Greater Auckland has also promoted this idea.

Kapiti residents could hop on the train in the evening and wake up in Auckland the next morning. Or, they could jump off in Hamilton. Perhaps to visit Hamilton’s wonderful award-winning garden.

Those in the cities to the north could take the train south to Kapiti. Arrive, perhaps with their bikes, in time for breakfast in one of Kapiti’s many superb cafes. Take a trip out to Kapiti Island.

The night train would be an absolute carbon bargain at a time when we need to quickly and significantly reduce emissions. It would also make it easier for those with disabilities to travel.

For individuals who still need to fly, trains can help them too. Kapiti residents can board an electric train into Wellington railway station, then catch an electric bus to the airport. But we have argued that trains, soon to also be electric, could also take people to Palmerston North airport.

The Future Is Rail.

organiser@thefutureisrail.org

022 154 9119