The National candidate for Otaki, Tim Costley, says the Kāpiti Airport meeting recently has identified a pragmatic way forward to save the aiport.

He says: “This involves protecting the core airport land, but potentially allows for some development around the fringes.

“The key thing we’ve demonstrated is that re-zoning that land is not an option.”

Mr Costley says the public meeting was a huge success, with over 300 locals attending.

He adds: “There was unanimous agreement that we need to keep the airport operational indefinitely.

“The next challenge is to convince the owners to come to the table and speak honestly with us about their plans, and talk about how we can find a pathway through this acceptable to all parties.

“It’s disappointing that Labour won’t support the airport, but I’ll keep fighting this until the end.”