Roar of the Waitakere’ Stops the Chop

‘Roar of the Waitakere’ Stops the Chop

Connects the Nation & Reveals Broken Planning System

Failure to notify residents caused the ‘roar of the Waitakere’ to be heard by the whole nation this week as the public reacted to a poor non-notified resource consent decision that risked creating a precedent.

Using a home-grown ‘Save Our Kauri’ campaign, a group of concerned and committed citizens voluntarily banded together to stand up against the planned destruction of a significant forest ecosystem that included the consented felling an ancient Kauri of significance.

Chainsaws stopped after Michael Tavares chose to scale a Kauri and sit in the canopy for eighty one hours catalysing urgent talks within the Auckland Council, the Waitakere Ranges Local Board and Manu Whenua.

An online petition attracted 26,000 signatures in record time triggering a change of heart by the developers, John Lenihan and Jane Greensmith and subsequent climb-down by the protester.

“This wasn’t just about one tree. This was about a broken planning system that enabled an extraordinary decision to be made without public consultation” says Aprilanne Bonar, spokesperson for the group.

“People from all walks of life and political persuasion spoke up. Lots of lessons have been learnt. Now we’re all eager to see what constructive changes andpotential reforms of the RMA will be recommended in the review by Auckland Council in reaction to the furore.”

Consultants involved in the case commented on weaknesses in the planning process being exploited and the Council knowingly allowing forest to be cleared on publicly owned land in the process.

Discontented Waitakere Range Local Board Chair, Sandra Coney discloses that the Local Board had expressed concern for the past 18 months about the poor performance of the Consents Department in environmental matters and over the Heritage Area Act.

Coney is adamant, “we consistently opposed non-notification in both cases and asked for a review of the non-notification in the case of 42 Paturoa Road.”

Media reports and public statements issued by politicians vary about the true age of the tree.

Expert ecologist, Dr Mark Bellingham in his report submitted to the Auckland Council says the forest at Paturoa Road is “in excess of 400 years old” and doesn’t believe the site has ever been cleared in historic times “due to the steepness limiting reasonable access.”

Bellingham adds there were misleading deficiencies in the developer’s site map that was submitted with their resource consent application to the Council officers.

“It wasn’t correctly surveyed as several significant trees appear to be missing off the map.” The ecologist speaks for the need of “vigorous auditing of the independent commissioners’ decisions” as they are not overseen by a regulatory body.

The Waitakere Ranges Local Board and Mana Whenua groups both strongly refute a public statement by the Auckland Council mentioning that they were consulted.

Coney is “very unhappy” about a misleading and inaccurate media release distributed by the Auckland Council. Complaining it was “not correct” and that the “Council did not consult with the Local Board about 42 Paturoa Road.”

Mana Whenua state that they weren’t given enough time to consult internally or adequate information. The correspondence from the developer’s planning consultants, Bentley & Co used the benign term “vegetation clearance” which was in stark contrast to “heart of the highest quality indigenous forest ecosystem” described in the ecology report.

As members of Save Our Kauri take a breath and return back to normal life they’re strengthened by all the unequivocal support and deeply grateful to the community.

Tavares is due to appear in Waitakere District Court on 16 April, the same day as the release of the Auckland Council review which is due to be reported back to the Auckland Development Committee.

ENDS

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