Yesterday evening, the Minister of Conservation Kiritapu Allan met with representatives of Ngāti Paoa and the Waiheke community for a town hall event at Waiheke to discuss the many failings by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and Auckland Council which led to the controversial Kennedy Point Marina being granted resource consent. The Minister admitted that DOC had led the Waiheke community down by not submitting on the marina resource consent application, which she says was due to significant under-funding of DOC by the previous National government, who was in power at the time Kennedy Point Boatharbour’s proposed Waiheke marina was being considered.

Following DOC’s concessions and apologies, today, the Ngāti Paoa Trust Board (the Trust Board) filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal seeking to quash the marina resource consent and seeking declarations that Auckland Council acted unlawfully and breached its statutory obligations.

“The only way we can begin to right the wrongs that have been committed against Ngāti Paoa and Waiheke is by having those who did us wrong held to account” says Trust Board Chairperson, Danella Roebeck

“It was soothing to hear the Minister last night admit that DOC and government were in effect negligent and got it wrong when it comes to the Kennedy Point marina. It takes mana to admit you were wrong. Shame on Auckland Council for not having the mana to admit that it has been wrong, wrong in not recognising the Trust Board’s mandate, wrong in not standing with our community, wrong in allowing the destruction of kororā habitats, and wrong in approving a marina that is cursed, is tapu and which Ngāti Paoa does not support ” says Ms Roebeck

If the Trust Board’s appeal is successful, the Kennedy Point Marina resource consent may be quashed and the resource consent application sent back to the Environment Court for it to consider Ngāti Paoa’s cultural effects evidence. If, based on Ngāti Paoa's cultural effects evidence, the Environment Court decided not to issue consent for the marina the Kennedy Point marina may not proceed and any existing construction works on the marina may have to be removed.

Shirin Brown of Protect Our Gulf Inc who also spoke at last night’s town hall event says “Auckland Council has substantially failed Ngāti Paoa and our Waiheke community. The Kennedy Point marina should never have been consented to. The Waiheke community are so grateful to the Ngāti Paoa Trust Board for taking these failings to the Court of Appeal, and for giving hope that Kennedy Point Bay might yet be returned to the people and to the kororā who call Kennedy Point Bay home. We hope the Court of Appeal gives the Trust Board and our community the justice they have fought so hard for.”

"Kennedy Point Bay is so precious to Ngāti Paoa, it is a sacred paradise. And yet the Developer, Kennedy Point Boatharbour Limited wants to pave paradise to put up a parking lot. With their marina they want to exclude tangata whenua from our ancestral lands. Ngāti Paoa say kao, our people have been displaced from our lands and moana for too long. Tikapa moana needs to heal, the korora needs to be protected. So take your marina and shoo." says Ms Roebeck

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