Society argues Kaipara Harbour should supply sand needs
MHRS legal representative James Carnie and Richard Bull.
A map showing Kaipara’s proposed consent area in hatched red.
The Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Society (MHRS) argued that controversial sand mining near Pakiri should be shifted to the Kaipara Harbour or substituted for other sources at a hearing in the Warkworth Town Hall last week.
The hearing comes in the wake of Kaipara Ltd’s application to renew its consent to extract two million cubic metres of sand offshore from Pakiri and Mangawhai over 20 years.
It contends that Pakiri’s sand is required to prevent a shortage of supply for the production of concrete in the Auckland market.
20-year fight continues at Pakiri Hall
Olivia Haddon presents images of the seafloor from 1995.
Pakiri’s Olivia Haddon said she was continuing the fight her father Laly Haddon started when she appeared before commissioners at Pakiri Hall on May 10, asking them to decline Kaipara’s application.
Ms Haddon said when the last consent was granted, it was ruled that the kaitiaki role of her family should be provided for and the family should be involved with monitoring.
“My father was unable to stop the sand mining, but ensured a relationship of consultation and partnership,” she said.
However, she said this relationship had failed in recent years, and that Kaipara Ltd had since contracted McCallum Bros to undertake its extraction.
Sand mining ‘cultural fees’ contested during hearing
The hearing was welcomed into Te Kiri Omaha Marae in Leigh.
Omaha Marae chair Annie Baines.
Kaipara Ltd managing director Steve Riddell and legal representative Morgan Slyfield.
Political manoeuvring among iwi and hapu took centre stage at a special hearing at Te Kiri Omaha Marae in Leigh. The hearing was for Kaipara Ltd’s application to extend its consent to extract sand offshore from Pakiri.
Omaha Marae chair Annie Baines told commissioners that Kaipara Ltd had been withholding its “cultural liaison fee” for a year, without the knowledge of the marae.
As part of Kaipara Ltd’s consent, 17 years ago, it had agreed to pay 50 cents for each cubic metre of sand extracted, worth $2 million over the 20-year period. Half was paid to the Ngati Wai Settlement