“If we are watching a film in the evening, we have to pause to let planes pass, or crank up the volume temporarily to overcome the noise. I'm so tired (I really cannot underline that enough). On an emotional level, I circle between rage, sadness, and desperation. Rage that commercial entities are profiting at the expense of my heath, and grief that those with the power to make a change seem deliberately disinterested in our plight. I feel desperate to get a break from the sight and sounds of aeroplanes chugging overhead.

“I submitted noise complaints to the Airport back in January but were told that because our location is outside of the airport noise boundary there was nothing they could do. Feeling exhausted, I've booked two weekends away to try and catch up on sleep, but I can't afford to anymore, so I'm just trying to tough it out until the flight path is updated to something less noisy.

“We used to enjoy our home and an outdoor life in the garden. We like the leafy green nature of Johnsonville. We moved here looking for somewhere with a garden, where our children could play, and I could have a veggie plot. I'm a keen stargazer, even if it's just observing them from the back yard. We would often be in the garden as a family, teaching the children about the changing constellations and planets. The change has completely changed our enjoyment of our home.

“If they don't change the flight path, we will probably eventually sell our property at a loss. We've only been here 3 years, so we bought at the market's peak, and who wants to buy under the flight path of jet planes? We will have to move on to somewhere quieter but I'm not sure the bitterness would ever leave me. We love our house and neighbourhood.”

“All anyone wants is for it to be returned to what it was – planes taking off across the harbour and the waypoint returned to the previous status quo. I would be happy to drive my car around the neighbourhood of the people making these decisions with a speaker blaring the aircraft noise, to show them how loud it is and to see if they like it. If I want to do anything to my home, it requires Resource Consent, even if it doesn’t impact anyone. 

"This change must be reversed, especially as there are no obvious reasons apart from the Airport making a few dollars. I understand the sustainability and emissions claims are minor, whereas the effect on me and many others is major.”

“Our house in Khandallah has served me well. I am home all day, so the tranquillity of our location has helped me cope with my injuries and left me with capacity to enjoy family and some social activities. I have also made the most of the great outdoor opportunities Khandallah provides - quiet walks in the surrounding hills are very beneficial - and I have an established social network in the area and feel very attached to it with my children having gone to local schools.

“I noticed the flight path change late last year, as soon as the change was implemented. It is essential I get frequent quiet rest periods during the day, but noise is very disruptive to this. I am now woken at 6am every morning and subsequently kept awake by the frequent planes. This causes me a lot of problems in managing my fatigue. I try to cope with this by changing my rest schedule for the day, but this is also affected by the aeroplane noise. I also find walks around the hills in the area a lot less beneficial with aeroplanes flying overhead and now do this a lot less often.

“If the flight path isn’t changed back, I will experience continued difficulties and distress in coping with the noise. I am hoping that common sense will prevail, and that the flight path will be changed back. I might be able to accept the situation a bit better if I believed the change in path brought any benefits to the city. It is hard for me to imagine any reason the change was warranted for a small city with ocean on three sides?? I was standing on Mount Victoria recently and observed that the new flight path probably maximises, to the greatest extent possible, the number of Wellington houses affected by the noise. In trying to write this, I have been disrupted several times by aeroplane noise.”

"I initially thought the change must be temporary, as there was nothing available publicly that I could find. How wrong I was.

"Seven months on, I still go into a 'flight' state when woken, which leaves me with heightened levels of cortisol wreaking havoc in my body and mind, often until lunchtime. On particularly bad mornings, I experience panic attacks from the noise and vibration. I suffer from costochondritis, which occurs during periods of emotional stress, it causes the tendons between the sternum and ribs to contract and mimics a heart attack. My mental and physical health is suffering greatly as a result of the flight path change.

"I was, and continue to be, frustrated with the lack of adherence to basic administrative law principles. People like myself, who are sensitive to noise, take particular care to ensure they will not be triggered and purposely choose not to live near motorways, arterial roads, train tracks or flight paths. To have a flight path imposed on you without any prior notice is heartbreaking. I know I am not alone in my struggles and I urge the Airport and Airways to reinstate the previous Runway 34 departure urgently, before people reach their breaking point. It's the compassionate, humane and right thing to do."

“It is so upsetting after living happily in our home for over 18 years, that our enjoyment of being in our home is impacted by a decision made by an organisation that didn’t consider or care about this impact. Every time a plane flies over and we have to pause the family movie we are watching, (or stop whatever we are doing). When we have people to stay, I worry about the impact on their sleep of the early/late planes as our living area and spare rooms are upstairs in our home.

"Our home in the northern suburbs was previously enjoyable because the area was quiet, with a nice community feel. In the warmer months, it was possible to open our windows and doors to the outside. We would spend time entertaining, reading and sitting outside on our deck - which we only had built a couple of years ago. We would enjoy time outside together as a family, gardening, chatting and listening to podcasts. Since the flight path change, these activities have become less enjoyable and we now reconsider whether we want to spend time as a family outside.”

“I had just invested in having a deck built, as we don’t have a secure enclosed garden. It took a lot of time to get Council approval and to find a builder. In that time the flight path changed and the planes are now flying directly over the new deck. This makes it very unpleasant for my husband and makes the deck far less enjoyable for him. I also host a meditation group on a Saturday morning when at least 4 planes go overhead. This is problematic for peaceful meditation.

"This was to be our forever house and a lot of the pleasure of living here has gone.”

“We chose to live in the northern suburbs away from the harbour, for the quiet green spaces that we are fortunate to have here and the easy access to public transport and social amenities by foot.

“We noticed the difference in early 2023, we assumed the change was temporary but then realised it was permanent. We responded by finding out what was happening and why, and then found this group. If this continues, we will lose value in our home if we want to sell. We don’t get to enjoy the quiet outdoors or sleep in on weekends or enjoy our back yard on a sunny day without 75+ decibels of noise every 10 minutes.”

“Our family has lived here for generations. Having lived in a built-up city, when we returned from our OE to have our family, we desired a quiet, peaceful environment, close to nature. We found a home at the end of a no exit street that boarded the native bush, with amazing bird song and no traffic noise. We have happily lived here now for over 20 years. The increase in birdlife has been amazing to watch and we are proud of NZ and its commitment to rebuild the natural environment. It is very sad watching the planes impact the birdlife near us.

“We have lived a major part of our lives in this community, and it saddens us to consider moving but if it is not changed back then that is what we will do. We are concerned that the aircraft highway over our family home will reduce the value of it. We would not consider buying a house under a flight path but we will take the financial 'hit' if we are forced to restart our lives elsewhere.

“We have discussed this issue in depth within our family and with our neighbours. We joined the Plane Sense Facebook group and have given money to support the group. We have also complained to the airport, attended the public meeting and I will be writing to my MP later today. We are at a loss to what else we can do.”

“I worry that this has impacted the property value of the area. This makes me feel anxious about being 'stuck' here, because I want to move, to get away from being directly under the flight path. Some planes, in particular, are so much louder than others - I believe they should be stopped from flying so low or being allowed to fly at all!

"If the flight path isn’t changed, I expect to have poorer mental health. I do not enjoy living in my house now and I will likely move away (if I can, if property prices haven't significantly decreased due to being directly under a flight path). I'd at least like support with funding from Wellington Airport and Wellington City Council to install double glazing and insulation to block the noise out as much as possible. Not that that will help with enjoying time outside!”

“We thought we had found the quietest street in Wellington, surrounded by beautiful bush at the bottom of Mount Kaukau and full of birdsong, whilst still being close enough to bike to work. The quiet was WHY we purchased this house, it gave us peace. We loved how quiet and low-key our street was, we felt very calm and rested here. We were able to wind down and think properly.

“We noticed the flight path change in December 2022. We were confused as to why so many planes started flying above, so loud and so often. We had to Google to find out that they had just introduced a new flight path, without consulting us. We have since contacted Airways and our local MP.

“If we can't sleep properly at home and I can't work from here, we will be forced to move which would be heart-breaking. We bought our first home here 4 years ago thinking we had found our forever home, where we would raise our children, with Childspace down the road and a quiet and safe street.

“I get frequent headaches now, which I have never had, as I am here all day for work as well, so I never get a break. I am absolutely in despair that one company's profits could damage so many people's lives. At the very least, they need to pay for significant sound-proofing in our homes, alternate flight paths, and have a rule that if early morning flights happen then late night ones can't happen too. 5-6 hours of sleep simply isn't enough. It isn’t possible to go back to sleep easily after being woken up and all the research shows that sleep deprivation is like torture.”

"I moved into the suburbs with my young family and I have two children at school. I fell in love with our home and we poured everything we had into it - our 'forever home',  after years of renting and scraping together a deposit. It was peaceful and it was ours to enjoy and relax in, it was my happy place. We enjoyed entertaining friends and the children loved playing outside. I left the back door open for my dogs to go in and out during the day, as I work from home. My home is covered in pictures of native birds, which I loved to see and hear sing in my garden - tūi, kererū, kākā and fantails. I'd wake up to the sing-song-sounds of the tūī in the morning from the Reserve across the way. I loved to walk the bushwalk paths of the Northern Walkway and feel peaceful. That's all changed now.  Our home and the children's schools are now directly underneath the new flight path.

"Over the summer things changed dramatically and the noise of the jets overhead were closer, louder and more intrusive. I contacted the Airport twice via their online form to see what had changed but got no reply, it was then that I found the Air Noise complaint email address and the reply I got felt like the world had been flipped upside down. A flight path change - and not only that, with NO consultation or notification at all. How does that even happen?! You don't wake up one morning and find a motorway on your doorstep. Which is essentially what we have above our heads now, a busier multi-lane highway for jet engines and supposedly nothing we could do about it because it's here already. But then the replies that were sent to appease us came! That we would get used to it! That it was perhaps a return to pre-covid noise. That it was 'reasonable'. It was insulting.

"The jets to the north, to the south and Australia come right over the top of my house and branch off, at times as close as 2.9k feet - I can see the windows on the plane and I can tell you what flight it is by its sound and intensity. 

"The last 2 mornings we have had 3 flights in 3 minutes in the early hours, just after 6am. There is no chance to get back to sleep because the next flight is never far away. Plus you never know how long you've got until the next one, it could be one minute or ten, so you find yourself in the darkness waiting, heart-pounding. If you do manage to 'drop off' inbetween time it's torturous to be woken again suddenly soon after. Instead of tūīs, we wake to the sound of aircraft crashing through the darkness. The whistling of the aircraft, as it announces itself and leaves, and the roar as it flies over, sends a sense of dread through my body, over and over and over again. In between times, there is the sickly, anxious feeling that the next one is never far behind. I've recorded sudden decibel level increases of 38db as a flight comes over and when you're in a deep sleep it is such a startling, horrific sensation, it feels similar to when you're jolted awake by an earthquake - except it's every day, multiple times a day. It's relentless. I've woken panicked, desperately trying to focus and make sense of my surroundings - in my own home. And I've found my anxious son curled up under his covers, staring out into the darkness in the early hours.

"I'm so incredibly tired, I'm exhausted. I'm woken up 90 minutes earlier than I would naturally wake every day, not just work days when I have to be productive - when I should be relaxing on weekends and public holidays too. I am too tired to exercise and weight is piling on, I just try to get through the day until bedtime, often falling asleep on the sofa in the evening. Lack of sleep and stress triggers my migraines and I have been experiencing more of these since the change. I had been going years between an episode but have in the last 6 months had many, including 4 separate migraines in 4-consecutive-days, laying me up in bed rather than spending time with my children, or being paid to work. As a contractor, if I don't work I don't get paid - but it's good to know that the system is saving organisations $1.3 million a year at my expense. My son hadn't had an abdominal migraine in years either as he was managing his anxiety well. Now he is suffering from them again and there is no medication he can take to relieve the pain, which can be excruciating and cause him to vomit. And then I hear about the effects this is having on my neighbours' health, who are far worse off than I am. So when I wake I think of them and the desperate situation we are all in through no fault of our own and I can't switch off - this has been inflicted on us to increase flights! We can't sleep now, how bad is this going get when they reach 100%+ of pre-covid flights! The planes can depart within a minute of each other and we've been told there is no limit to flights. All of this makes me feel incredibly low and sad, and then frustrated and really angry. All I want is to feel secure and peaceful in my home with my family. My sons are growing up and I'm too exhausted and preoccupied to enjoy it, because of planes of all bloody things! 

"We are a family of four and two anxious rescue dogs. My dogs now react every time a plane goes over. I couldn't hear my eldest son's pōwhiri at college because the aircraft noise over Onslow College was so loud. Come the summer I won't be able to open the doors and windows, we are confined and trapped, there is no escape from it, it's stifling. When my children are on the trampoline and a plane goes over, I just imagine what filth is raining down on top of them. These decision-makers have families I'm sure - show some compassion for us and our families. We are everyday people trying to live our lives without being a bother to anyone. Our families are worth more than your blood-money."

"We had been renting in Khandallah at the time and my only child, my dearest darling daughter, was diagnosed with cancer 8 days before her second birthday in 2012. The years 2012 and 2015 might seem like a long time ago, but for us it’s like yesterday. Oh, how I wish there was a cure for cancer. Cytarabine, thioguanine, doxorubicin, methotrexate, dexamethasone - these aren’t just words to us - they have real meaning to us. We have seen what they do. Good and bad. I had to administer methotrexate and dexamethasone myself to my daughter during her ‘maintenance’ phase of her treatment. We also understand the meaning of the words ’horror’, ‘pain’, fairness’, and ‘death’. Pulling my daughter’s chemo-hair out of my mouth after kissing her goodnight is something I’ll never forget.

"In 2015, our then-five-year-old daughter had just finished almost three years of chemotherapy for childhood cancer and “complications”. It was a time to celebrate. Our daughter was still alive, although we almost lost her a few times. We had been renting for 9 years by then and we had managed to scrape together a deposit. What better way than to give your only child her own home. Her own room - painted pink! So, we found our little home - an ex-rental fixer-upper which nobody wanted, but we fell in love with it. Close to Khandallah Primary and Raroa Intermediate…if she can live long enough, she can enjoy both. Now you might be wondering what this has got to do with aircraft noise. Well, you see, when an incredibly stressful situation happens, like childhood cancer, your body pumps adrenaline into your system, you become very, very focused - you’re filled with cortisol too. I never so much as had a cold during those years. I didn’t sleep much during those years. Maybe four hours a night if I was lucky. The problem, I learned is what comes later… Depression…deep dark unrelenting depression.

"My daughter’s cancer diagnosis broke me. Not while she was fighting it, but a few years later. We never received counselling from the government during our daughter’s battle. My understanding is that families are now assigned a psychiatrist at CHOC during their child’s treatment. This went on for about three years. I never cried. I never got sad. I felt nothing. Literally nothing for anybody. I was waiting for her to relapse and die. What was the point of anything. My wife was crushed because there was nothing she could do to help me. Suicide was a daily thought. And then…one day it was time to die. I walked up to the top of Mt Kaukau with every intention of not coming down. I’m not sure how many hours it took me but all I remember is that I saw and heard nothing. I got to the top and walked along the skyline. Somewhere there I sat down on the side where I knew I just needed to drop - no more emptiness. I looked around and saw Wellington. Yes, it was the first time I was up Mt Kaukau and the first time I saw the city from above, even though I lived here for many years. I remember I could still see the moon during the day too. I had never seen something like this before. Everything about my daughter came back to me. I cried and cried and cried. I know now that the tears were the start of my recovery. This was in 2019. The journey of my recovery and the help I sought and got is a long one but suffice it to say that Mt Kaukau become a temple for me. I ran up and down it day in and day out. Mt Kaukau/Tarikākā - “where the parrots nest”, for me, life was slowly found again. Long story short - I was saved. My family was saved. This was January 2020. I also learnt the important lesson of good food, exercise and most importantly - uninterrupted sleep. Then covid came. The universe is funny like that. Covid is an experience we all share as a community, so I won’t comment about community, because I know many people suffered deeply through it.

"By late 2022 a resemblance of normality had returned. Finally, things can settle down now. Just a nice relaxing time in the garden on a lazy Sunday. Some yummy eggs on toast for Saturday out on the deck. Then Airways and Wellington Airport (WCC, Infratil) decided to step into my sanctuary, uninvited, and threaten to take away everything I have worked so hard to keep together. You see this new flight path is right above my house. Every morning I am woken one hour earlier than what I am used to. This has been going on for months. My disturbed sleep pattern has interrupted my eating habits. After many months of this, it’s catching up to me again. I’m tired, I’ve gained weight. I’m not eating well; I’m waking up at 4am every morning now! I haven’t been up Mt Kaukau for about 2 months now. I’m struggling. I’m fighting it because I know where this can lead. But I just can’t function without proper sleep. My wife can’t sleep either and my daughter is struggling too. We can’t tolerate this noise. I don’t think Airways or Wellington Airport truly understand or care what they have done. We didn’t move here for this. We didn’t make sacrifices for this. This was forced on us.

"I was at the community meeting, and I heard the stories of people’s struggles. My heart broke when I heard the gentleman talk about his wife’s traumatic brain injury because I understand. We understand. I know there are many others suffering. How many people are fighting cancer in the area and are woken up at 6am? I know what lack of sleep can do. I know what stress does. I know very well. Airways and Wellington Airport are callous in my opinion, they simply do not care. Little did they know that just down the row from them was a father who had been fighting depression for years and was starting to struggle again. We cannot afford to just move. Even if it was financially possible how can we rip our daughter from her friends where she has found a measure of peace? Mt Kaukau is no longer a temple - it has been defiled by the vile sound of the jet engines. Instead of working with us, all I saw was a Teflon slideshow and lack of empathy. I am ready for a fight with Airways and Wellington Airport. I know what it feels like to hold a dying child - some things are worth fighting for no matter the costs."

“I have lived in Ngaio for 30 years. I bought my house here 6 years ago and I brought my children up here. I have lots of good friends in the area who are especially important to me because much of my family is overseas. We moved around a lot when I was a child so when I came here, I felt at home. I enjoy the people and the beautiful environment.

“I noticed the increased noise immediately. Since the change was not notified or publicised, I thought I had become unused to plane noise during Covid, and must have forgotten how it had been before. I am sensitive to noise, and thought it was my problem!

“I have considered moving, but my friends are here, and I work in Wellington. A couple of months ago, I decided to have double-glazing installed to reduce the noise. I'm a few years from retirement, and will have to work longer now, as this has cut into my savings. If that doesn't help, I'm out of options.”

“We bought our house in the northern suburbs after living several years on a busy street, surrounded by restaurants and night life. We were ready for the quiet enjoyment of suburban life nestled in the bush of the hills.

“Life before the flight path change was peaceful and relaxing. The exact reason we invested heavily into purchasing the specific house we did. We always longed to rescue dogs, and our two very anxious rescues enjoyed the peace and quiet as well.

“We noticed the flight path change in the week leading up to Christmas, in 2022. In today's economic climate, it's nearly impossible for us to sell our much-loved home and relocate. If Airways and Wellington Airport don't change the flight path back, we'll be forced to sell up and move. This would cause a detrimental impact on the future financial stability of our family in an already pressured economic situation.”

"There are obvious flight path alternatives but alas, the morons running Airways don’t seem to care. The stupidity is absolutely infuriating. Our reasonably relaxed lifestyle has been shattered by the flight path change. We now can’t sleep in, or fully relax in the evenings when Runway 34 is in use, with near-constant overhead and high-pitched engine noise, as the jets power up over our home. The flight path is preventing us from relaxing in our home and it is degrading our family life."

“The flight path is impacting my sleep. I’m waking up super early every day and I have been crazy tired since we moved in. In Newlands we’d hear the 6am but it was in the distance and then nothing more - here it’s upwards of 5 planes in quick succession from very early on.

“It also seems like the bird life here is far quieter. The current flight path is hugely disruptive - in the time it’s taken me to write this 3 flights have gone overhead.”

"We moved here after previously looking at suburbs we would like to live in. We loved the area for many reasons but the most important one was the lack of noise. Having lived beside two major airports in the past we wanted to make sure we would not be under a flight path. Although they previously passed nearby, there was not that much noise at all.

"Our home was perfect - it's important to us that we have an "open home" for friends, especially our daughter, as we don't have any family nearby. We love to sit outside - we have some amazing sunrises and sunsets. I am into photography, and I used to spend much time outside trying to get good shots. We love a BBQ and chatting to our neighbours over the fences, sometimes having a cuppa while we chat. None of this is really possible now, as we can't chat without interruption. Not to mention the worry of the pollution these planes are probably chucking out all over us.

"When the flight path changed, I noticed immediately. At first, I thought maybe there were issues with weather but soon I realised it was a daily occurrence. I suffered alone as I didn't want to become the complainer. Most of the flights go straight over our house and much too close. It's doesn't feel safe.

"Once I realised that I wasn't alone in my stress, I emailed Airways and Wellington Airport. While they did acknowledge my complaint, I did not feel they were that concerned or bothered.

"I have been told by health specialists that sleep is important for my recovery and my ability to deal with the pain. I have now seen an increase in my pain and a decrease in my general health since the flight path change. I can't hear my family on a video call as we have to stop talking all the time, our calls are precious since we live so far away from them. We also can't hear the tv or music. As for having the doors open in summer, well it feels like we're right next to the airport.

"If the flight path isn’t changed, I will continue to be sleep deprived, ill, unhappy and find it difficult to cope. We will probably try to sell our house and get away from this miserable noise pollution. I doubt it will be easy to sell once prospective buyers hear the noise they would have to put up with. We will also be out of pocket for the work we did to it, to give ourselves a now unusable outdoor area to enjoy. Not to mention the small fortune we spent moving to a house we knew was not under a flight path."

"We moved from central Wellington to the northern suburbs 13 years ago. We were looking for a quieter place, surrounded by nature, where our children could have a permanent home. We plan(ned) to retire here.

"We live in a house overlooking the Ngauranga Gorge. Aside from very occasional noises from the quarry and works it was very quiet here. An oasis, to recover from the stress and bustle of our high responsibility work, and a place for our children to enjoy a free-range community of similarly aged kids. The flightpath used to run more or less straight up Ngauranga over the already-busy highway and the noise of the planes was noticeable, but not intrusive.

"We noticed the flight path change over the summer break, almost straight away. But it seemed to be dependent on the wind direction and the inbound flights continued to follow the old flight path in a southerly. The number of aircraft was initially quite low, so we were not sure if it was a regular or permanent thing, or not. At first, we thought it was some temporary Covid adaptation. Once it went on for a while, we read up on what was going on but we were still not clear on why the change had been made. Recently a neighbour told us about Plane Sense.

"Our house is on the northern slope of a ridge, so we get no escalating sound of an approaching plane, it is just a sudden roar as the jets fly directly over the house. Some planes make the whole house vibrate like an earth tremor. My daughter has woken up thinking it was an earthquake on more than one occasion.

"We work from home a lot (during Covid and since) and when the louder planes fly over, I cannot hear calls even using a headset, until it has passed. We recently took a long weekend away for the first time since Covid, and it was a revelation to have undisturbed sleep and wake up naturally. This was when we realised that the current situation is untenable.

"If this continues, we will sell the house and move to somewhere we can relax. We have already started looking."

“We moved to the northern suburbs because it was quiet, calm and peaceful, with close proximity to the city, the Hutt Valley and Porirua amenities. We really appreciated the quietness and calm of the suburb, and it felt like a forever home.

“As a family we are suffering from sleepless nights, impacted days, constant irritation from the whine and roar of jet engines. Our mental health is being affected as we are always anticipating plane noise and are on edge. The noise itself works its way into your mind, to a point that you are constantly thinking about it. It is incredibly disturbing. People’s lives and homes should not be impacted by a flight path, to the point where they are wishing for it to stop, nor the quallity of their day being determined by the direction of the wind.”

"We moved to the northern suburbs for family, the facilities and for the quiet enjoyment of the nearby forests. We enjoyed a peaceful suburb with lots of birdlife and bird song.

"We noticed the change as soon as it happened, it was immediately noticeable. Previously the planes passed by at a distance, infrequently and during the day. Nothing like the extent we are now so suddenly experiencing. It’s made us feel incredibly frustrated and angry. We are concerned that should we decide to sell our house because of this, the sale price will be affected.

"If the flight path isn’t changed back, we worry that our property will have lost value, affecting our ability to move elsewhere and we will continue to experience poor sleep."

“We chose to live in Broadmeadows because our family enjoys proximity to nature, escape from the hustle of the city and the quiet suburban life, yet close enough to the city and work. Coming home to Broadmeadows after a busy workday in the city just re-energizes us and resets stress levels, with the green outlook, nature views and the only faint noises coming from neighbours moving their lawns or children playing outside.

“We would enjoy our time outdoors in our garden, the nearby water reservoir and take regular walks up Mount Kaukau. We enjoyed spending time outdoors and in nature to reduce stress levels. It has been important to us to teach our toddler to connect to nature.

“We noticed the change when we returned from 3 months away, In February 2023. As a result of the change our family has mental health concerns, experiences sleep disruption and our ability to work from home has been reduced. If the change isn’t reversed, we will continue to experience reduced mental health. There will also be less exposure to nature for our son, as we will spend less time outdoors and in our neighbourhood. Long term, we will consider moving elsewhere.”

“I am deeply concerned and frustrated regarding the changes to the Airport flight path, which now directly impacts my residence in the northern Wellington suburb of Ngaio. I am deeply disappointed that no effort was made to inform or consult the residents who are now bearing the brunt of these changes. It is our right as citizens to be heard and taken into consideration when decisions of this magnitude are made, especially when they have such a significant impact on our daily lives. The lack of transparency and communication has only increased our frustration and feelings towards the situation.

“Please provide us with information on any measures that will be taken to mitigate the noise pollution over the northern suburbs of Wellington and revert to the original flight path before DMAPs. We are at the point of desperation and if nothing is done, we will need to look at moving to mitigate the impacts of this on our family. Being put in this position I find extremely infuriating and upsetting and had I known this would happen we would not have wanted to settle in this area.”

“I am consistently woken between 0600 and 0615 most mornings, by three planes flying low and loud over my house. On a good day we can expect two planes before 0615, but this is after several aircraft arriving late and in the middle of the night. The long slow drone goes on and on and it continues all day.

The noise, depending on the height, can reverberate around us - especially on cloudy days when we feel surrounded by the noise. I am so incredibly angry that this has been done to us, and so frustrated because I have no confidence that anyone is listening to us.  My heart rate feels like it fluctuates each time a plane flies over.”

“Our neighbourhood used to be quiet, with a community focus and peaceful. With the Reserve on our doorstep, it felt full of nature and enjoyable green spaces. I could happily sit in the garden before the change, now we hear planes that drown out family and recreational time.

“I noticed the change immediately and I wrote to the Airport and Council.

“The lack of sleep and the effect of increased stress is affecting my health and well-being. I am not constantly tired before the day even starts; it is exhausting. The constant noise plays havoc with your senses and nervous system.”

“We've lived here for 15 years. We chose it because it's green, pleasant, and quiet. We had a peaceful outlook over a valley reserve. I love watching and hearing the birds - we have tūī, kerūrū, kākā, ruru, pīwakawaka, as well as lively thrushes, blackbirds and waxeyes. I enjoyed going for early morning walks around the quiet streets. My work is stressful, and that walk would "fill my cup".

“I noticed the change on the very first day. The noise was obviously louder, the planes coming directly overhead rather than slightly to the northeast of the house. But the worst is the vibration which I can feel in my body, particularly when international jets and prop planes are passing. It is nauseating.

“I feel exhausted. I rarely get to sleep before midnight, but if I do, I'm woken up by any planes flying over and then I am woken up by the planes just after 6am. On days when we have a southerly I still wake up in the morning in expectation. The vibrations give me transient but unpleasant nausea which in turn has triggered an anxiety. We are frustrated at having to stop conversations when a plane goes over even when we are inside. We don't bother going outside now, our enjoyment of the garden has been ruined, as have my peaceful morning walks. The planes are so close I feel like my privacy is being invaded.”

“Our community is embracing a clean, green environment, and yet our birds are also fleeing our suburb because of the aircraft noise. We have definitely noticed fewer birds in our garden.

“Please restore our peace and quiet by taking off over the water. It’s really wearing us down. We understand that the DMAPS diversion is approximately 30 degrees. Why can't the flight path be returned to what it was and the new DMAPS path be retained and the new path be used for any missed approach?”

“Our house was renovated a few years ago. We have double glazing, some triple glazing, insulation and noise reducing wall linings in bedrooms. This was put in to reduce any noise from buses and traffic as we’re close to the road, and it worked. These measures have no impact on reducing noise from the planes though. The noise and rumble are another level. Being on a hill the noise and the rumble of the planes as they fly, what feels directly over our home, is distracting.

“I noticed as soon as the flight path changed. We have contacted Airways and Wellington Airport many times. We have lived in this suburb for 20 years; it is very disappointing to have this happen.”

“We noticed the flight path change before Christmas 2022. We can no longer set a laptop up outside for meetings because we’re often presenting, and the noise is very loud from the planes. I have had to pause the presentation and apologise etc. We are not supportive of the new flight path, we’ve since joined the Facebook group and had intended to go to the community meeting but were unfortunately away. If the flight path doesn’t change it will limit the enjoyment of our home, the outside areas but inside it’s pretty loud too.”

“I came from a big European city, and I enjoyed the peace and relative tranquillity here. That was until the change. I began noticing towards the end of December. At first, I wrote to the Airport and Aviation Security, the latter because I thought that there was an emergency or something. When I heard they had changed the flight path, I complained to the Airport and contacted the Johnsonville Resident`s Association.

“As residents we are being severely, negatively impacted. I cannot contemplate this continuing, it is just unbearable.”

“I am woken up every day at 0602 by a flight a few hundred metres above me. By 0610 there has been three flights. I literally wake up angry every morning. When I am trying to get to sleep after 2130 a few more flights wake me. The occasional flight arriving at around midnight often intrudes on my sleep. There is no such thing as a quiet relaxing weekend anymore as any conversation is punctuated by aircraft noise. On top of this, I foresee that my house price will be damaged.”

“We noticed the change in the flight path in December 2022. We thought it might just be just a temporary thing. I looked for information about it and who I could contact but at that stage there weren’t any groups I could sign up with to share our thoughts and impacts with.

“In a northerly we get woken up at 6am with jets roaring overhead and the noise continues throughout the day. It can be quite loud inside (even with double glazing) and outside it can be deafening. Relaxing outside with a book is no longer an option and when socialising you have to talk between the planes. The birds are gone, we now only have the odd black bird and sparrow. I work from home and am constantly distracted by the noise.

“Many thanks to the Plane Sense team for bringing everyone together and for all the hard work.”

“We moved to Ōhāriu Valley to enjoy a quiet, rural lifestyle - it used to be very peaceful here. We built a new home and enjoyed spending time in the garden and watching the birds (Tūī and Kerurū). Now, the airplanes blast above and it has become the new normal, and even though our house is double glazed we still hear the planes very loudly inside.

“We are feeling sleep deprived as parents and so are the children. If this continues, people won’t want to continue living in this part of Wellington.”

“I don't agree with the change, and I’ve been emailing the Airport and Airways to complain, to request that they revert back to the old flight path.

“My family moved to the northern suburbs as they are quiet – perfect for raising a young family. I used to love my house, it was so quiet and peaceful. Then after being away throughout December, that all changed. I noticed immediately, at the beginning of this year.

If the flight path isn’t changed back, I’ll probably have a mental breakdown and I'll be forced to leave my home and the suburb I used to love.”

“We moved to Ngaio for the quiet surroundings and the peaceful native bush. We are part of a collection of suburbs that offers a safe environment, with a thoughtful community, with some distance from natural and man-made hazards.

“We first noticed the plane noise was disrupting our sleep during summer. We feel it has been getting steadily worse as aircraft traffic has been increasing, as has the cumulative fatigue from it all. We have no chance for respite unless we can go away from home for a break. The last flight of the day is sometimes just before 1am and then the inescapable 6am succession of engines in our bedrooms leaves less than a minimum 6 hours to sleep, contravening our human right to rest and shelter.

“I have written an email of complaint and I have taken advice from the Plane Sense website and copyied in the organisations responsible, otherwise I was originally just going to send it to Wellington City Council and our MP.

“The noise intrusion through the late and early hours of the day and imposed sleep deprivation is unsustainable. The knock-on effects are serious to the extent that we will have to leave the area if this is not rapidly addressed.”

“Our choice to buy a house in Ngaio was very deliberate. We liked the scenic/landscape values, amenity value and the tranquillity. Apart from the occasional passing vehicle, our street is (was) blissfully silent. The chattering tūīs were the loudest noise.

“We noticed a material increase in overhead aircraft and noise disruption from early January 2023. I then began asking my neighbours if they had also noticed an increase in aircraft, to ascertain what was going on. Since then, I have been engaged in the community group opposing the change. I have written to the Airport, Airways, local councillors and our MP, expressing my concern.”

“I moved to the northern suburbs because it's safe and peaceful, with close proximity to bush walks and parks, a local village and easy access to wider areas. I love the view across the harbour and listening to the birds singing.

“Having a flight path overhead takes away from the sense of peace and enjoyment of being outside. It's also disruptive, in that planes can be heard all through the day, starting from 6am every morning. They're at a noise level that you can't ignore. Especially on a windless day - the sound of the wind is now replaced by the sound of airplanes.

“I noticed the change late last year. I assumed I'd missed some kind of consultation or community notice about the change to the flight path. At first I thought it was a one-off and then it was clear that this wasn't the case.

“In addition to the general increase in noise and disruption, I am also now conditioned to waking up well before 6am. When I hear the flights I know for sure that I'm not the only one who's heard it and it makes me anxious for others. It's well documented that poor sleep has a huge impact on mental health, and it's the number one reason why we're so militant about sleep in our house. Because we've experienced what poor mental health looks like. Sleep is a major part of our daily well-being strategy.

“It makes me angry that so little care and attention were paid to the impact on people. The organisations involved must reinstate the across-harbour flight path, or at least come up with something better and CONSULT WITH THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY IMPACTED. If they don’t, it will continue to disrupt the sleep and lifestyle of those in our house and community. Without a change, I will have an extremely poor opinion about the parties involved. The management of the change is deeply incompetent and disrespectful.”

“We chose to live in the northern suburbs as it was extremally peaceful and filled with birdlife. Since the change we have noticed a decrease in native birdlife, we have observed a specific bird family over the time we have lived here but since the increased noise we no longer see them.

“We noticed the change early this year and have just recently found the community group Plane Sense. The change is impacting our mental health and exacerbating existing health conditions. It is impacting on our ability to work from our home and even continue conversations when a flight goes over.  Most nights we cannot even hear our TV.“

“The ongoing noise is extremely disruptive, and there should have been proper consultation with impacted residents before implementing any changes. My household is impacted by the significant increase in flights over our suburb and often right over our house. This continual noise pollution is causing lack of sleep and disturbance to our daily lives.

“Today I have been at home most of the day, as it is my day off, and the noise from planes has been constant - from first thing this morning and throughout the day. It’s been a colder day, so I have my doors and windows closed, but despite this and also despite the double glazing the noise has gone on and on. On sunnier days when I have been outside to enjoy some sun and fresh air, the noise became so upsetting, it is just so frequent! Flight numbers will only increase as flights in and out of Wellington Airport increase and I understand there is no limit on flight numbers. Therefore, the problem and negative impact on the quality of life of the residents in the impacted suburbs will only get worse over time.

“I have also seen large planes (sorry I’m not a plane spotter!!) fly right over Rāroa Intermediate and Onslow College, that is not acceptable! As if our tamariki haven’t had enough disruption with their learning, they (approximately 2000 students) now must contend with their learning being impacted by being under a flight path!

“I am pleased that representatives of the organisations involved attended the community meeting, along with local and political representatives of the area. I am pleased that the issue has been heard at Parliament too and that additional sound monitors will be installed in the area. There is now a great opportunity for all parties to sort this out and return our suburbs to the peaceful place they were before the flight paths were changed (without care or consultation)! I urge Wellington Airport to take immediate steps to address this problem, to take this matter seriously and act swiftly.”

“I came back to New Zealand and settled with my family directly under Mt Kaukau, ‘Tarikaka’. The older I get the more I understand why I came back to this spot. But now, after the flight path change, I feel under assault.  There is no peace, either inside or outside.

“Under assault from 6.05am.

“Under assault all through the day.

“Under assault until late into the evening.

“There is no relief from the decibels and noise.

“This is the first time I have had thoughts of leaving – or, actually, of being forced out of my home.

“Forced from my Maunga.

“Forced from my Tūrangawaewae. 

“Forced from where we have chosen to raise our tamariki in our community.

“I need some relief from this noise-assault.”

"We moved to NZ 10 years ago from the USA and were very lucky to find the house we are in now. We absolutely love the view and close proximity to Mount Kaukau and appreciate our neighbours, who are all quiet and respectful. 

"We previously were able to enjoy a plethora of bird life in our neighbourhood. From Eastern Rosellas, to a Kārearea on our deck, a Morepork, several tūī and piwakawaka. We felt like we hit the jackpot! Now we are lucky if we see a blackbird. The bird traffic has completely declined. We were able to sit out on deck and have conversations. Getting kids to sleep in was relatively easy, knowing they were getting their full night's sleep. 

"We recognised it straightaway in December 2022. My parents were visiting from the USA and commented on it. We thought at first, we were noticing it only because they resumed after the covid restrictions were lifted. We also thought that it was Christmas time so perhaps that increased the traffic had made the flight path go directly over us. But it didn't let up. It was consistent with 6am starts and 11pm finishes (if we were lucky). We had to turn the Christmas movies up loud so we could hear them over the planes taking off. As time went on, after the holidays it just continued and we tried really hard to ignore it but that jet noise gets implanted in your brain. 

"I made a noise complaint to the Airport. Then another. I would receive thorough responses about why the changes were made usually in reference to sustainability. I really didn't feel like I had much fight in me to go up against the Airport. So, I threw my hands up. Then I found Plane Sense and I felt relieved to know other people were struggling with this too. 

"I am tired. I no longer have to set an alarm because I'm woken up every day at 6am. Then another. And another. If I am working from home and I am on Zoom, I have to mute myself so that the whole meeting doesn't get disturbed. If I am talking then I have to apologise to everyone for the noise. Inside our home we have to pause our conversations while the planes go by. We laughed at first, then were annoyed, and now we are angry. At bedtime, when we try to get the kids to sleep, I pray “That's the last one", so that it goes away quickly. When I'm finally falling asleep myself, I get woken up again at 11:42pm and struggle to get back to sleep because I'm a light sleeper.

"Not sleeping well means I am foggy at work and less productive. I'm worried about the air quality with the jet stream going directly over my house. I'm worried about my hearing. Engineers who work on planes wear protective headgear for a reason! Staff out on a tarmac wear ear plugs for a reason! They will damage your hearing. I miss the simple pleasure of seeing birds in my garden. I have a hard job and my home is supposed to be my sanctuary. Now I get stressed out trying to settle into the comforts of my home. Sometimes I wonder if the plane is going to crash right into my house - I mean, it sounds ridiculous I know, but when it's all you hear multiple times a day on a regular basis your mind starts to go there. 

"I am concerned the value of our home will decrease as well, because we are literally right under a flight path. If we were ever to show our home to buyers, they would immediately notice that and be like "Yeah, nah". I never imagined leaving our house because it is our dream home. If things don't change we will have to seriously consider moving and having to uproot my family is just not something I ever thought I'd do again."

"I chose to live in one of Wellington’s quieter suburbs, high up on the hill to spend a great deal of time outside. We decided to settle here because it’s an area of Wellington that suits our family’s love of the outdoors. It’s a place where we can spend time in the garden and have green space for chooks. My children are often out in all weathers playing with their school friends and the neighbour’s children, with the family dog too. It’s a quiet place and we have a great community around us. We have friends over for BBQs and connect with the neighbours outside on our small street for special occasions, like Halloween. Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of money on our garden, building decks and growing vegetables, it’s where I like to be. Well, it was.

“The flights are so loud, they wake my children and I up an hour earlier every day – weekday, weekend, public holidays. My ten-year-old daughter heads off to school every day having been loudly woken an hour earlier than she’d usually wake, tired and having to begin her day in that way. The flights are so loud it sounds like they are on the roof! I wake up as the first plane flies overhead each morning and there’s no getting back to sleep after that.

“If the flights don’t go back to the over-water path? Well, they just have to! It’s just so far from ‘reasonable’ it’s not funny.”

“I noticed the change soon after Christmas 2022. It used to be the case that on the odd occasion, with a southerly wind, we would have a small number of flights turning tightly over our house when lining up to land. But now we have all flights in the predominate northerly wind roaring across our suburb. I initially thought it was a short term or emergency thing, obviously it is not.

“If the over-water flight path isn’t reinstated, I would estimate that the value of my property would decrease, and I would expect my rates to reflect that. I would need to move, as I just couldn't stand living in this kind of environment. I feel sad that living here has been ruined.”

“We were away for most of the summer - until the end of January. So, we realised the flight path had changed at the beginning of February 2023.

As we sit in our home, we have noticed the increase in the number of flights due to the change in the flight patterns. Previously we used to see them flying over Wellington Harbour as we drove out of Broadmeadows. I now have the Flight Radar app and monitor the frequency and direction of flights over the northern suburbs. We live up near the top of Broadmeadows and they now go over our house, even as I write.

We have noticed an enormous decrease in bird life this year. As bird lovers, prior to January/February this year, we were privileged and delighted to be inundated with Tūi, Kākā, Kārearea, Kererū etc but those numbers appear to have reduced dramatically compared to previous years. And we monitor birds most days.”

“We have lived in Ōhāriu Valley for 30 years. It is a peaceful rural haven with working farms and lifestyle blocks. Many properties, including us, are deeply committed to restoring wetlands to enhance and extend the bush corridor from Zealandia for native birds. 

“We chose to live in Ōhāriu Valley because we sought peace from the noise of the suburbs and the city and wanted wide open with clean spaces around us. We also wanted to farm and garden organically and regenerate native bush.

“Through the joint efforts of a close community, native fauna is increasing rapidly and bush is regenerating. It is quiet and calm for birds and animals and visitors seeking a rural experience (eg cyclists, horse riders, etc). Wellington City Council and Wellington Regional Council recognise Ōhāriu Valley as an area of significance and afford it particular protections, to retain its unique environmental values. Yes, we are remarkably close to Wellington and get a little noise and light pollution, but Mount Kaukau and surrounding hills are a natural barrier to most of these.
 

“Airways and Wellington Airport responded to our complaint. Airways repeated what was on their website, with no acknowledgment of any our issues and Wellington Airport acknowledged our email and reassured us that there was no noise difference and that we’d adjust to the frequency!! They told us they would review our complaint at their next Air Noise Committee (which they have to) and would give us feedback. We never heard back. When we approached them for an update, they referred us to Plane Sense as an alternative option to continue engaging with them. 

“We have found the flight path change unbearable and very intrusive. We are often woken by the 6.00-7.00am flights and, being at home all day, we experience frequent flyovers during the day and into the night. Some cause the house to vibrate. We now look forward to a cold southerly as we know the flights won’t be overhead! 

“We’ve also noticed a significant reduction in bird life on our property. Since the flight path change, we have had 2-3 Tūī in the garden in total over 6 months. We used to have 5-6 around the house every day. No Kererū at all for 6 months, when we used to have 2-3 a week. Korimako have all but disappeared and we don’t hear Rūrū calling at night any more. This is tragic and incredibly upsetting given the effort we are making to regenerate wetlands and bush in the valley. It would seem it’s not just the humans who are affected by the noise and visual pollution of these aircraft. 

“Basically, our lifestyle is severely affected. It’s now a noisy environment. Not peaceful anymore. We don’t want to be outside when a jet flies overhead due to the noise and we’re worried about eating and breathing whatever is now dropping down on us from the engine exhaust. Organically growing our food now seems to be under a threat we can’t mitigate. 

“The impact on our lives is immense and stressful. We have spent 30 years building and implementing our vision for our property and we are not prepared to give it up for this ill-thought-out decision and subsequent daily intrusion by Airways and Wellington Airport, so we will fight for our peace and quiet to be restored. 

“There is also no doubt in our minds that this flight path change has instantly lowered the value of our property. People who seek to live rurally are highly influenced by factors like flight paths, pollution, noise etc. it will be the same for the other affected suburbs. This is untenable. Plain and simple the community impact of this change has not been researched appropriately and factored into this decision as a priority. The lack of consultation is appalling, as is the attitude that you’ll get used to it! 

“Do the right thing Airways and Wellington Airport and reverse this decision.” 

"My home and neighbourhood used to be a quiet and have a serene atmosphere, I’m in a secluded area with many birds and sheltered from the wind. The concept of a sanctuary is what drew us to our home of 33 years. It is safe for small children, as we are far from the road up a drive, and wonderfully secluded. Our home is surrounded by beautiful trees and there are many birds, which we enjoy watching and caring for by trapping rats and providing clean birdbath water and syrup to drink in deepest winter. We maintain the treescape and we have planted many more native plants. We care for our local environment. 

"Early in February, on return from break away we noticed the change. I practice Pilates on a small deck outside in summer, and it was a shock to see and hear so many planes over that hour each day. I am appalled by it. I talked with my husband, who had also noticed it also, and then found out the flight paths had been changed. We thought we would be unable to influence any change back to normality, so tried to make allowances for the noise pollution. We decided we'd have to tolerate it, but I was deeply unhappy about it. 

"If the flight path wasn’t to change back to it’s original course, I would be enraged at the dictatorial nature of it. The lack of respect shown to Wellington citizens, and the complete disregard shown for our welfare, is intolerable."