The Kapiti Airport site, showing the zones for development. Zone 3, on the left, is residential, and the entire area marked retail could potentially become businesses. All the other zones are for potential industrial development.

The handbrake has come off development of 85 hectares of prime land in Paraparaumu, after Kāpiti Coast District Council eased restrictions in its District Plan.

The rule change will allow houses, supermarkets, a department store, industrial units, and multiple small food outlets to be built on land surrounding Kāpiti Airport, subject to resource consent.

The change has been criticised as potentially fracturing the district's existing town centre, and creating "chaos" on its busiest road.

ANDREW GORRIE A 2011 aerial shot of Paraparaumu Airport and surrounding land.

Kāpiti Coast Airport Holdings, a Todd Corporation company, sought the private plan change, saying only about 40ha of its 125ha site was needed for airport operations.

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The remaining 85ha amounted to "the single largest urban landholding in the Kāpiti district", the company said.

ZIZI SPARKS/STUFF Todd Property managing director Evan Davies was pleased with the decision to "remove historic and outdated planning regulations" from the land. (File photo)

It was "a significant piece of easily developable land, owned by a willing investor, located midway between the town centre and the beach and ... easily accessible from the expressway".

Kāpiti Coast District councillors approved the recommendation by a hearing panel, which said the consent process was the best place to deal with the impacts of any development.

Coastlands mall, which would be a competitor to any new businesses, submitted against dropping existing prohibitions around the airport.

RANDALL WALKER/STUFF Richard Mansell, director of Coastlands mall, which opposed the District Plan change. (File photo)

Director Richard Mansell said it was taking legal advice on whether it would appeal against the decision. It has 30 working days to do so.

Coastlands was inside the Paraparaumu town centre zone, while the airport land was outside. But the opening of the Kāpiti expressway, and relegation of the old State Highway 1 to a local road, has led to a perceived shift in exactly where the town centre now lies.

Mansell said there would be "chaos" on Kāpiti Rd, which runs alongside the airport. It already carries more than 25,000 vehicles a day, and is the busiest local road in the district.

ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF Kāpiti Mayor K Gurunathan said both Coastlands and the airport precinct were important to the district.

Todd Property managing director Evan Davies said a wide corridor of land had already been reserved for future road widening along Kāpiti Rd.

The company was pleased with the decision to "remove historic and outdated planning regulations" from the airport land, he said.

"There was no opposition to our application expressed by the wider community. The main opposition came from trade competitors and their supporters."

STUFF Sir Noel Robinson on the runway at Paraparaumu Airport. He bought the land in 2006, and remains a 25 per cent shareholder in the current airport company. (File photo)

Davies did not say how many homes could be built, but said the lifting of prohibitions in the area known as Kāpiti Landing did not allow a mall to be built.

About 52,000 people currently live in the Kāpiti district – a number that is expected to rise to more than 63,000 in the next 25 years.

Kāpiti Coast District Council senior manager Nicki Williams said there would be no sudden large-scale developments without stringent resource consent.

SUPPLIED Wellington Aero Club's first airshow at Paraparaumu Airport, in 1949.

"That's where the traffic assessment is going to come in. Any application, if they decide they want to build a department store or a supermarket ... they will now have to go through the resource consent process."

Council strategy and planning group manager Sarah Stevenson expected the Coastlands and Kāpiti Landing sites to develop as quite different retail experiences.

At the airport zone, shoppers could go to "big box" stores, get a hamburger or pick up groceries, while the area around Coastlands would have boutique stores, where shoppers could "buy your clothes, your shoes, your make-up", and was close to community amenities.

She said case law compelled the council to drop the prohibitions and allow resource consent applications.

Kāpiti Mayor K Gurunathan said both Coastlands and Kāpiti Landing were important to the town, and needed a level playing field for development. He suggested Kāpiti Rd traffic could be eased by a new road from Ihakara St.

The NZ Transport Agency initially submitted against the plan change based on its traffic impact around the expressway interchange, but withdrew its opposition, instead seeking tightened consenting controls.

Spokesman Andy Knackstedt said the agency was "still assessing the outcomes of the decision and any potential impacts on the transport network".

BRIEF HISTORY OF KĀPITI AIRPORT

1939: At the start of World War II, the Crown compulsorily acquires the airport under the Public Works Act.

1995: The original 131-hectare block is sold to Murray Cole and three other Kāpiti businessmen for $1.6 million. Original Maori and non-Maori landowners fight for compensation, believing the land should have been offered back to them.

2004: A parliamentary select committee calls for a government inquiry into the sale. An auditor-general's inquiry found the sale process flawed, but the price reasonable.

2006: Paraparaumu Airport Holdings, headed by Sir Noel Robinson, buys the airport for "well under $40m", announcing plans for a 30-year development.

2008: Kāpiti Coast District Council approves the redevelopment application.

2012: Todd Property Group, part of the family-owned Todd Corporation, takes a 75 per cent shareholding in a new airport company, Kāpiti Coast Airport Holdings, with Robinson having 25 per cent.