May 14, 2018
Craggy Range renegs on Te Mata track
Ngati Kahungunu chair Ngahiwi Tomoana has told Havelock North’s Craggy Range Winery to burn the tribe’s name off a plaque marking the winery opening 20 years ago if it won’t remove a track it built up the side of Te Mata Peak.
The winery is reneging on an agreement it made to remove the track, saying remediation could not fully return the landscape to its pre-construction condition and could make it worse.
In an open letter to director Mary Jeanne-Hutchison, Mr Tomoana said the track has driven a chasm in the community that has brought the worst of racist and class comments to the fore.
He said the agreement was to remediate the track as best as possible.
Describing a proposed protest by mountain bikers in support of the track as the Charge of the Lycra Brigade, he said the tribe would not be swayed by bullying or legal threats and would continue fighting.
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