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Whangārei Hāpu Set To Go Back To Court To Battle Housing Development On Sacred Site
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira, Māori news journalist
A Whangārei based hāpu are going back to court for the latest in a legal saga spanning about 30 years.
In December last year the Environment Court quashed consents for a housing development on land they said had huge significance to Ngāti Kahu o Torongare, saying at that time it was "one of the clearest cases we have seen where consent should be refused".
But developers have appealed the decision for a 93-lot subdivision on Onoke Pā, in the suburb of Kamo, meaning the hāpu will now have to go to the High Court.
It is the second time in 30 years the hapū has fought a subdivision on the same piece of land, which it has always maintained is hugely significant to Māori.
In a statement, Ngāti Kahu o Torongare said they were notified at the end of January of an appeal lodged by Onoke Heights LTD against the decision of the Environment Court to cancel resource consents to build 93 homes on Onoke Pā in Te Kamo Whangārei.
Hāpu spokesperson Nicki Wakefield said her hapū was "bitterly disappointed" at the appeal, and potentially going back to court for a third time was a "bitter pill for our people".
Speaking to RNZ's Midday Report programme, Wakefield said the hāpu were celebrating the Environment Court decision at Christmas-time.
"Now we're readying ourselves for another year in court over the same matter and so we might be going in for a third time."
Wakefield said there was a "clash" between the interests of developers and local council which contributed to the on-going legal battles.
Onoke Pā was an urupa, or cemetery, right up until the 1800s, Wakefield said.
"It's a bit of a set-up really and then we're in the middle - we're the meat in the sandwich as the hāpu."
"It's our wāhi tapū and it needs to stay as a tapū," Wakefield said.
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