A group claiming ownership of much of the land occupied by Paraparaumu airport plan to go to the High Court to seek the return of part of the land.
The land on which the airport is built was taken by the Crown under the Public Works Act during World War II.
Norma Materoa Ellison of Te Whanau-a-te-Ngarara says that, under the act, disused land should be returned to the previous owners - so
her group want the currently disused land surrounding the airport to be offered back to them.
But the airport's owner, Sir Noel Robinson, says that the whole of the 126ha site is in use.
He says that even the outside boundary is being used as a buffer zone to limit the amount of airport noise affecting surrounding residential areas, and the airport also needs the surrounding area for expansion under its long-term development plan.
