THE Cowaramup helicopter business at the centre of a row over noise will shut down and leave the region following allegations of a fresh round of threats towards the pilot and his aircraft.
Wild Blue Helicopters owner Brett Campany has sought a violence restraining order against a local man he said threatened to injure him and vandalise the helicopter.
A previous vandalism attack which left Mr Campany $25,000 out of pocket has led to the chopper recently moving from its Bussell Highway base to a more secure location on Miamup Road.
But Mr Campany said he had since received serious threats both in person and on the phone which led to an out-of-sessions court hearing at Margaret River police station on Thursday.
An interim violence restraining order was granted against the man, who has yet to respond to the application.
The matter is likely to be heard before a magistrate within the month.
Mr Campany said the latest setback had sealed his decision to close his business and move back to Perth.
However, the operator said he was financially committed to staying in the area until January.
"If I leave now I've got no money, no income and a $25,000 repair bill to pay off," he said.
"I'm over it.
"It was our dream to come down here, set up a tourism operation and be part of the community and we never expected we'd be in a stiuation where I am worried about my personal safety.
"Now my family just keeps asking 'when can we go?'"
Several residents living along Cowarmup Bay Road, Gracetown, complained about noise and privacy issues involving Wild Blue Helicopters.
They claimed Wild Blue's scenic flights over Cowaramup Bay flew over their homes up to eight times a day.
None of the residents are involved in the latest court application.
Soon after the row became public in August, the helicopter's rear door was smashed in an overnight vandalism attack which temporarily halted Mr Campany's business.
"On top of the $8000 it cost me to repair the door, I paid $17,000 to have a full safety service of my aircraft because I just didn't know whether it had been tampered with in some way," Mr Campany said.
"I would otherwise only know when myself and my passengers were falling out of the sky," Mr Campany said.
Despite the negativity, Mr Campany said he had been heartened by widespread expressions of support from the community.
"There are people who want us to stay who have made as much effort as possible to help us out and I really want to thank those people," he said.
"It's just a shame the minority have made it so difficult for us to keep going here."
