Tūhourangi - Tūmatawera Hapū - are taking the Rotorua Lakes Council to court over the construction of a sewerage pipeline through a sacred site.

On Thursday the Board is expected to file in the Environmental Court for a declaration: that the council required a resource consent to install a sewage pipe beside Lake Rotokākahi.

The council's Tarawera Sewerage Scheme has attracted criticism for its choice to build a sewer pipeline through a wāhi tapu (sacred site). Over a hundred ancestors were killed by the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera, and their bodies are buried in and around the lake.

Te whatanui Leka Taumalolo Skipwith (Tūhourangi), a spokesperson on the legal action, says:

“The council never obtained a resource consent, despite their District Plan making clear that earthworks around Lake Rotokākahi require resource consent.”

“We have applied for enforcement orders to ensure that the council's works remain stopped until they go through the proper resource consent process.”

This court case is the latest in a series of actions against the pipeline, which has included protests as well as a physical presence from mana whenua where the pipeline is being built.

“These legal protections are in place for a reason. We deserve an opportunity to show the council and the court why it is so wrong to have drilling through our wāhi tapu and have paru flowing through our sacred area.”

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