Early this morning, Tūpuna Maunga Authority received news from the site maintenance team that the recently built auto-gate at the Manukau Road entrance at Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill had been significantly damaged.

On early inspection, this morning, gate specialist was on site and suspect the auto-gate has been hit from the front by someone trying to get on to the Maunga. The damage incurred meant the gate was inoperable and took some time to fix, affecting use of the roadway for early morning visitors to the Maunga leaseholders and residents. We believe the incident occurred between 2 am and 4 am.

The roadway and area at the Manukau Road entrance have now been made safe and is open again for vehicular use. However, the auto-gate arm will need to be replaced and this will take approximately two weeks to repair.

Paul Majurey, Chair of the Tūpuna Maunga Authority says, “We are disappointed to hear about this incident. The Tūpuna Maunga are wāhi tapu to Mana Whenua and should be safe spaces for all our community to enjoy. These types of actions cause frustration to all of us that cherish these taonga.

If anyone is aware of what may have happened at the scene, please contact New Zealand Police on 105 or contact the Tūpuna Maunga Authority team through Auckland Council customer service on (09) 3010101 for a confidential discussion.”

The gate was put in to improve security and to protect our Maunga from vandalism, thefts, and anti-social behaviour after hours. Earlier this year in May the copper dome roof on Stardome Observatory was stolen causing $200,000 worth of damage – just one of the incidents that led to the installation of the gate. This current incident reinforces why the auto-gate has been important to install – improving the safety for our visitors, leaseholders, and residents.

The Authority has successfully installed automatic gates throughout Tāmaki Makaurau at Takarunga / Mount Victoria, Maungarei / Mount Wellington, and Ōwairaka / Mount Albert. Where they have been utilised to make the tihi (summit) of the Maunga vehicle free areas while allowing limited mobility users to still enjoy.

The Tūpuna Maunga Authority have reported the incident to police and will increase security while the gate is being repaired. We will share further information about the repair job and how Tūpuna Maunga users will be affected as this information comes to light.

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