NT millionaire Grant Farris likely to be allowed to fly helicopter for Knuckey Lagoon home after court case

MILLIONAIRE Grant Farris will likely be granted permission to fly his helicopters in and out of his Knuckey Lagoon home

Grant Farris will likely have permission to fly helicopters to and from his Knuckey Lagoon home.

MILLIONAIRE Grant Farris will likely be granted permission to fly his helicopters in and out of his Knuckey Lagoon home, after a Supreme Court judge agreed with him that doing so did not require special permission from the Development Consent Authority.

Mr Farris, who sold his business Broadsword Marine for more than $70 million in 2013, previously commuted weekly by helicopter between Darwin and his Bullo River Station.

Justice Peter Barr agreed with Mr Farris “helicopter-related activities” were “part and parcel” of ordinary residential comings and goings.

“The helicopter would be used for travelling to and from work, or for recreational trips, in much the same way as a resident might use a motor vehicle,” he said.

“There is no distinction in principle between the use of part of the land for the proposed helicopter-related activities and the use of the land for garaging or working on a motor vehicle or motor ­vehicles.”

Justice Barr conceded “home helicopter ownership and use is rare” but said it fit the profile of ordinary residential use in Knuckey Lagoon.

“A noisy truck or piece of agricultural equipment may make more noise, and cause greater and more prolonged disruption of semi-rural serenity than a helicopter taking off and landing several times a week,” he said.

He proposed to make a declaration which would mean Mr Farris was free to fly his chopper from his home, provided he piloted all flights and the only passengers were members of his family.