MEDIA STATEMENT
Rahui Katene
Maori Party MP for Te Tai Tonga
18 November 2010

Katene to join takutai moana hikoi

Maori Party MP Rahui Katene will be joining the hikoi against plans to extend the Waikawa Marina in Marlborough this Saturday [November 20].

“Most of the toys parked in the marina belong to foreigners who don’t live here so the extension is not being done in the best interests of the local people who will lose their seabed and seafood beds," Mrs Katene said.

Members of the local iwi and the wider community of Waikawa are holding the hikoi to celebrate the bay’s history and highlight its significance in the lead up to hearings next week on the proposal, which would see up to 500 new berths constructed.

Earlier this year Port Marlborough applied to the Marlborough District Council for a plan change to develop the marina – a move that if granted, would also unbalance the local ecology, Mrs Katene said.

“Locals are concerned that the council might give in on this so I urge it to stop listening to the jingle of the cash register and start listening to the people they are supposed to represent.”

The hikoi was not only for Maori, but for all people of the Waikawa community to join, Mrs Katene said.

The hikoi will begin at 11am at the memorial steps on the Picton foreshore and will end at the Waikawa Marina.

ENDS

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