Two bodies have been found at a Kapiti Coast property belonging to well-known local community board member Adrian Webster.
Police were alerted after ambulance staff found two bodies at the coastal property on Ames St in Paekakariki, north of Wellington, at about 10am.
The property is understood to be owned by Mr Webster, who chairs the local Paekakariki Community Board.
Police have not yet publicly identified the people whose bodies were found at the property.
A local shopkeeper said Mr Webster is well-liked and respected in the community.
A nearby resident told APNZ: "When I was down on the road earlier there was a sense of shock because, as I say, the people who live at the property are well-known.''
Acting Kapiti Mana Area Commander Detective Inspector Ross Grantham said police were at the scene but it was too early to provide any further information.
The property has been cordoned off and several police cars were in attendance.
There are two houses on the section - an older house by the waterfront, and a more modern house nearer to the road.
Relatives of the property owners sometimes stayed in the house nearer the road.
It was not known which of the two houses the bodies were found in.
A nursery business was run from the property for part of the year, a resident said.
Kapiti police will hold a press conference at 1pm.
Tomorrow's Paekakariki market, held on the first Saturday of each month, has been cancelled as a mark of respect. A couple with a bach near the home said the people who lived there were "a lovely couple.
"That's so sad.''
A woman who lives nearby said she was in shock. "It's such a tight-knit community,'' she said.
