More than 30 people from the eastern Bay of Islands appealed to the Far North District Council for support in their battle against a fast-tracked consent for a marina at Waipiro Bay. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
Far North Mayor Moko Tepania has thrown his support behind hapū fighting a fast-tracked marina proposal, by calling for the project to be opened up to public consultation.
More than 30 people from the eastern Bay of Islands turned out at a Far North District Council meeting last week, urging councillors to oppose plans for a 250-berth marina at isolated Waipiro Bay - even though the council will not have a say if it goes through the fast-track consenting process.
Kaikōrero [speakers] for the affected hapū said the fast-track process deprived local communities of their voice, so they were turning to the council so their concerns could at least he heard.
The concept plan for the 250-berth Waipiro Bay marina. Photo: Supplied
Councillors did not pass a formal resolution - Tepania said the short timeframe made that impossible - but the mayor did pledge to write a personal letter opposing the use of fast-track legislation for the marina proposal.
He also invited any councillors who shared his concerns to sign the letter.
Tepania told RNZ he believed the proposal should go through the normal RMA (Resource Management Act) process.
"As a council we formally opposed the fast-tracking legislation because we had significant concerns about how it would affect our partnership with iwi and hapū here in the Far North, in that it makes two classes of iwi or hapū citizenship, those who have settled and those who have not. We're seeing that now, where we've got unsettled hapū who have come to us because they've got no other avenue to get the powers-that-be to listen to them," he said.
"I'm neither here nor there personally over this project, and I'm sure there are some benefits, but what I am opposed to is fast-tracking that does not follow normal resource management processes to ensure that iwi, hapū, community, council and key stakeholders can have a say, and that the process will be transparent."
Patukeha kaikōrero Lamorna Ahitapu-Rogers said hapū were grateful for the mayor's support, and the chance to express their opposition despite being locked out of the process.
If the marina went ahead, Te Rāwhiti residents would lose one of their main pipi beds and future options for mokopuna.
"If they build this marina, and that environment is destroyed when we get our Treaty settlement, there are a lot of things we won't be able to do that we have the potential to do at the moment," she said.
Patukeha kaikōrero Lamorna Ahitapu-Rogers says fast-track legislation has left her community without a voice. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
Hopper Developments, one of two companies behind the proposal, did not respond to requests for comment.
During last Thursday's council meeting in Kaikohe, speakers from Ngāti Kuta, Patukeha, Ngāti Hine and the local community board laid out their concerns.
Natasha Clarke-Nathan, a kaikōrero for Ngāti Kuta and Patukeha, said the proposed marina was "extremely large" with 250 berths, a boat ramp and shops, all in a remote part of the Bay of Islands.
It would exclude local people from an important area for gathering kai moana and effectively privatise part of the Bay of Islands.
"In our minds this is a privatisation, or a raupatu [confiscation], in favour of the wealthy," Clarke-Nathan said.
The development would contribute to the eastern Bay of Islands becoming a "dumping ground" for holiday homes and boats that were used only a few weeks a year.
It did not meet the requirements for fast-tracking because it offered no regional or national benefits, she said.
Opponents of a fast-tracked marina proposal packed the public gallery at Thursday's Far North District Council meeting. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
She disputed the applicants' claim there were no wāhi tapu in the area and said their figures for the marina's economic benefits were greatly overstated.
Clarke-Nathan said the applicants claimed a strong demand for marina berths, but the nearest existing marina, at Ōpua, had 20 empty berths.
The real demand was in Kerikeri, at the other end of the Bay of Islands.
Ahitapu-Rogers told councillors increasing the number of boats in the area would raise the risk of spreading the seaweed pest caulerpa.
The eastern Bay of Islands was already "ground zero" for the caulerpa invasion in Northland, she said.
A report released that same week by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research estimated caulerpa's cost to the New Zealand economy could reach $9.4 billion.
Louise Dews, of the Eastern Bay of Islands Preservation Society, and Pere Huriwai-Seger were among those calling for council support in their fight against a fast-tracked marina. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
Jane Hindle, Russell representative on the Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Community Board, said a project that amounted to the "wholesale transfer of seabed into private ownership" needed the full scrutiny of the RMA.
Opponents of the development have called a public meeting at Russell's Kororāreka Marae at 1pm on 18 May.
Waipiro Bay is about 20km east of Russell in an isolated area on the "back road" between Whangārei and Russell.
Development to date is limited to a gated community of top-end holiday homes.
Projects which are not specifically named in the legislation, such the marina, have to apply for consideration under the fast-track process.
The Ministry for the Environment assesses the application to make sure it's complete, then the Minister for Infrastructure decides whether to accept it for fast-tracking.
If accepted it then goes to an expert panel, which may or may not hold a public hearing before deciding on the consent.
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