COUNCIL CONSIDERS PARTIAL REDUCTION IN CIA REQUIREMENTS

MONDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2015

Auckland Council looks set to scrap 1,373 of the controversial 'Sites of Value to Mana Whenua' from its Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan. Democracy Action, a group formed to fight against the Mana Whenua provisions, is welcoming the proposed reduction of the number of sites.

“While this is good news, we’re not counting our chickens before they hatch,” says Democracy Action’s Chairman, Lee Short. “We still need to work though what sites are being removed and what ones are staying."

“Over the last six months our volunteers have been out visiting the 3,361 sites — something the Council didn’t bother to do. We found sites submerged underwater, underneath buildings, in carparks and even one site at an old landfill. We also know of examples of significant sums being paid to iwi in return for certification that a resource consent does not affect a particular site.”

“The obvious question is why the Council, having claimed for more than a year that every site is sacred, appears to be making a partial u-turn. In our opinion, every site should be properly assessed and verified by archaeologists rather than iwi leaders, some of whom have a potential conflict of interest.”

ENDS

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