Waiheke marina: Protectors locked down at campsite occupation forced to leave

Saturday, 21 August 2021

Tensions have been rising at the Kennedy Point Marina site on Waiheke Island, as activists and crew tussle and occupiers take over the floating pontoon. (First published July 8, 2021)

Occupiers locked down at Waiheke’s Pūtiki Bay have been forced to leave their campsite because they faced arrest for breaking level 4 rules.

Four members of Protect Pūtiki, the Ngāti Pāoa-led group opposing a marina at Kennedy Point, left the camp on Saturday after about a dozen police arrived.

Dani, a protector who didn’t want her full name used, said they had formed a bubble at the camp and were following strict level 4 guidelines.

Police dismantle the camp where protectors had been living during level 4 lockdown.

“This is our home – a lot of us don’t have anywhere else to go,” she said.

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The sign at the entrance to the camp asked people to follow lockdown guidelines by staying away.

* Waiheke marina battle shows why we need mātauranga Māori

She said Māori Liaison officers visited the camp on Saturday morning and the protectors were told they were breaching a ban on public outdoor gatherings.

Dani said that relied on a “classist and racist definition of home”.

The protectors stand against the construction of a marina at Kennedy Point.

She lives in her van, and spent last year’s lockdown camped out in a similar set-up – albeit not a protest – with no trouble.

It was sad and stressful having to leave the camp, she said.

The bubble has now moved into an unused bach lent to them by a member of the community.

Dani was also worried that by coming over from the city, police could have unwittingly brought the virus to the island, which has so far remained Covid-free.

The arrival of the police was the first time their bubble had been broken, she said.

Protector Billie Manu watched a Facebook livestream as police dismantled her tent, which has been her home for more than a month.

She said it was “devastating and disgusting” to watch police disassemble the camp.

“It’s taken us so long to build this.

“This has been a community effort and this has been a nationwide effort.”

A spokeswoman for police said officers were on the island on Saturday “speaking to some people there in relation to potential breaches of alert level 4 conditions”.

“The people involved have chosen to leave of their own accord and there have been no arrests/evictions.”