June 21, 2017
Dotterel eviction inevitable under Paoa plan
Lobby group Save Our Reserves says the Point England Development Enabling Bill is an eviction notice for the dotterel which nest on the land.
The bill going through parliament this week will remove the reserve status of the land and allow the government to sell it to Ngati Paoa for a 300-home development.
In his second reading speech Building and Construction Minister Nick Smith said both Ngati Paoa and Auckland Council are totally committed to the dotterel’s future.
But the group says that is at odds with Conservation Minister Maggie Barry, who told it the proximity of houses and recreational activities at Point England make it unsuitable as a breeding site.
It says an amendment to the Bill requires Auckland Council to replace the sports fields, and the only suitable site would be the headland where the dotterel nest.
Ngati Paoa Iwi Trust made much of their kaitianga role in their written submission to the Select Committee including that they would ensure their master plan “provides an enhanced habitat for tuturiwhatua (dotterel) and other birdlife”, “management of tuturiwhatua breeding sites”; and “monitoring nests and protecting from predators and pedestrians”. Yet in their oral submission, the Trust talked of removing cattle and fences and replacing sports fields – without saying that these actions would remove the last dotterel habitat/nesting sites, Save Our Reserves says.
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