Kennedy Point protectors say occupation is only option to stop Waiheke marina
Thursday, 8 April 2021
Occupiers opposing a marina at Waiheke Island’s Kennedy Point have marked a month on the beach.
Campaigners set sail from the bay for Auckland's Takapuna on Thursday morning, where they protested outside the developers’ offices after a hīkoi from the shore.
They’re intent on stopping the construction of a 181-berth marina promised for Pūtiki Bay.
Back on the island, the occupation shows signs of permanence. A gazebo and tent are anchored on the pebbles with sandbags, trestle tables, chilly bins and a camping stove arranged into a cooking station.
**READ MORE:
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* Battle against controversial Waiheke Island marina plan heads to Supreme Court
**
A few paint pots balance on the hay bales looking out to see. The placards and pallets daubed in paint announce the occupation well before you get to the beach.
On Wednesday, 30 days since the construction barge arrived at the bay and the protectors moved in, workers erected fences above the breakwater.
It was one of the first visible signs of construction since the first week, when two piles were driven into the seabed.
Emily Māia Weiss (Ngāti Pāoa) has been on the beach since day one. She heads up Protect Kennedy Point, a movement that brings together supporters from Ngāti Pāoa, Save Kennedy Point (SKP), Waiheke's Piritahi Marae, environmental groups and the community.
She said the occupation was only necessary because every other legal avenue had been exhausted. A last-ditch appeal is currently before the Supreme Court, the culmination of four years of court battles led by SKP.
“If the law isn't going to recognise the community resistance and Ngāti Pāoa resistance to the marina being built, then we have to show it through occupation, through other means.”
The development breaks a rāhui placed on the Waiheke Island foreshore to protect kaimoana, she said.
Occupier Karla Allies (Ngāti Pāoa, Ngāti Pukenga ki Manaia) said the action came down to protecting the moana.
“It really is to save the Gulf,” she said. She was concerned a marina at Kennedy Point would lead to more developments in the Hauraki Gulf.
“We have to draw a line somewhere, and the line is here as far as I’m concerned.”
Her immediate concern was for the kororā, or little blue penguins, that live in the rock breakwater.
Karen Saunders, general manager of Native Bird rescue and the only person on the island with a DOC permit to handle penguins, said she was asked on Wednesday to move the penguins by the developers.
She estimated there are between 30 and 40 penguins in the rocks, and she said because they are nesting and moulting, moving them would be an animal welfare issue.
“They can’t just take them. If they run into the water they will drown.”
Kennedy Point Marina project manager Scott Fickling said the developers were “committed to protecting” the penguins.
He said external consultants’ inspections indicated the likely presence of two burrows within the construction footprint and two more close by.
A plan was being submitted to Auckland Council about how they will manage the removal of the rocks in the areas around the burrows.
Allies said she hoped the occupation would be an opportunity for Ngāti Pāoa to “come together for a good cause”.
The occupation has the support of the Ngāti Pāoa Trust Board, who oppose the marina. They've been at odds with the Ngāti Pāoa Iwi Trust, whose former trustees approved the marina plans and have been working alongside the developers.
The Trust Board was not consulted by the developers, in part because Auckland Council removed them from their mana whenua database despite them holding a mandate for RMA and LGA issues.
They say if they had been consulted, the marina would never have got the go-ahead.
New trustees were elected to the Iwi Trust late last year, and will establish a position on the marina following consultation with iwi members.
At the protest outside the developers’ offices on Thursday morning, representatives of the Trust Board read out a trespass notice demanding construction workers leave Pūtiki Bay.
“Ngāti Pāoa has declared Kennedy Point wāhi tapu and your trespass constitutes an offence to wāhi tapu and mana,” the notice, also displayed at the occupation, reads.
“Your actions are causing damage and harm to Ngāti Pāoa, and to the seabed and habitat of the marine species our rāhui is placed to protect, preserve and regenerate.”
Kennedy Point Marina director Tony Mair said the firm respected the right of people to protest and were “open to hearing their concerns”.