A war of words has broken out over Paihia's picturesque beaches, with residents turning out in force at a community meeting.
While the beautiful beaches of the Bay of Islands may look like a perfect landing spot for those viewing it from the sky, locals from the Northland town made it clear it's not a runway.
"This is the heart and soul of this town, they don't want it. We're having things taken away from us that we have no control of," local Rob Hardiman told Newshub.
"What they want to do is use our beach as a way to make money for their business."
The Bay of Islands is a tourism hotspot. It's estimated 60 cruise ships will visit this summer, including the 5000-capacity Ovation of the Seas.
Skydive Bay of Islands is currently based more than 20km away from Paihia at Bay of Islands Airport in Kerikeri.
It wants to use two public Paihia beaches as landing strips to make the business more visible to tourists.
"The business will survive if we aren't landing on the beach, but it really is an opportunity to showcase the area and what a beautiful place New Zealand is," Skydive Bay of Islands CEO Hamish Funnell told Newshub.
The plan has the backing of Northland Regional Council and the Civil Aviation Authority - but public consultation didn't happen until Wednesday.
"It seems to have been done secretly and nobody knows how they actually gained that permission," Paihia resident Merva Whale told Newshub.
Ms Whale says in summer the beaches are too crowded and dangerous for anyone to land safely.
"You've got two people coming out of the sky at speed. You know, a collision with someone on the beach, I can only see someone getting badly hurt."
Skydive Bay of Islands says it's not going to force beachgoers to move, and due to time restraints would only be able to do a few landings a day.
"Before we even embark on a beach landing we'll send a crew down to the beach to make sure the area's safe. We're not going to be encroaching on anyone's use of the area," Mr Funnell said.
"We're not here saying there's going to be 20 jumps onto the beach every single day."
But based on a negative show of hands at the end of the meeting, it's unlikely locals have been convinced.
Newshub.
