June 17, 2021
Arrests at Waiheke as marina work starts
Green MP Elizabeth Kerekere says the police presence at Putiki Bay on Waiheke yesterday was overkill and inflamed an already tense situation.
More than two dozen police were on hand yesterday to prevent Ngā Uri o Ngāti Pāoa protesters from interfering with preparatory work for a marina.
Dr Kerekere, who reached the site with local MP Chloe Swarbrick after police had arrested three people for trespass, says it was not a good use of police resource.
She says the actions of the developer seemed deliberately provocative, given recent discussions with Ngā Uri o Ngāti Pāoa.
"They'd already organised to have a big public meeting on Sunday, to meet in good faith and talk with the developers, and I was so not surprised to hear suddenly they swooped in and trying to get this thing done first, trying to get away with something else. They are clearly in breach of their resource consent which shouldn't have been granted anyway, from the information we have been given from Ngāti Pāoa," she says.
Dr Elizabeth Kerekere says yesterday’s removal of rocks from the bay will have the effect of undermining the habitat of the Kororā or little blue penguins and seemed a clear breach of the developer’s promise to develop a penguin management plan.
Copyright © 2021, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com