land confiscation 2013 style

They are still confiscating Māori land and still pretending to consult with Māori when they have already made up their minds. They are still in the mindset that deliberately marginalises Māori and treats tangata whenua with disrespect. Who are they? In this instance the NZ Transport Authority and through them the Government.

Tangatawhenua.com

Hapu representatives from Ngati Hurungaterangi, Te Roro-o-te-Rangi and Ngati Uenukukopako, as well as various whanau and land trusts, met with NZTA and their consultants Opus International.

Harry Wilson, one of the NZTA Directors stood to make the announcement that the Eastern Arterial Route (EAR) option had been selected for development along the eastern lake side of Rotorua.

They couldn't care less about the people and their wishes

Spokesperson for the 3 affected hapu, Hera Naera, responded to the shock announcement.  ”We are disappointed with your decision as it will cut our whānau off from their lands.

This decision will decimate traditional wāhi tapu and disconnect whānau from their papakainga along the Owhata, Ngapuna areas.

Consultation? I don't think so, they have not listened to the wishes of the people - they couldn't care less about the people and that is their shame and this country's shame.

A new formal process had now been initiated according to the Resource Management Act (RMA), that a alteration to the designation process under the RMA would be started and that all affected parties would now be notified by email.

Mr Wilson continued by saying that NZTA and Opus would be meeting with the Rotorua District Council at 11am today to formally make their announcement.

The response of whānau and hapu members was to all walk out of the meeting showing their strong solidarity and rejection of the decision. This land confiscation is what tangata whenua are fighting against and the fight is the same fight that previous generations have fought.

A road is not more important than the wishes of tangata whenua and the decision makers will find that out the hard way I hope.

Hattip: Tangatawhenua.com

destruction of wetland

There are many idiotic things we do to the land and draining wetlands is well up there. Unacceptable news that a wetland in the Catlins has, somehow, been drained.

From ODT

Fish and Game hired a helicopter last week to investigate reports the Lundy Marsh (formerly the Cairns wetland) had been drained and the peat bog and tussock vegetation destroyed.

"You'd hardly recognise it, it's been drained, the vegetation is gone, and from the helicopter it looks like grass on top," Fish and Game Otago officer Morgan Trotter said.

On a scale of one to 10, he described the destruction of the wetland as a seven or eight.

Bloody hell - this is really bad.

Wetlands acted as a sponge, absorbing water in winter and releasing it during dry conditions in summer, keeping rivers flowing, he said.

Mr Trotter said he had laid a complaint with the Otago Regional Council about the damage to the wetland, which he believed had taken place in the past year, although drainage of the area had been an ongoing issue.

He had also made an Official Information Act request to the council for all information it had on file regarding the wetland.

Thank goodness for the Morgan Trotter's of the world.

Otago Regional Council resource policy director Fraser McRae said the damage done to the swamp was of concern and the council would be making inquiries to see whether the work was done legally or illegally.

"The current plan does not protect all wetlands, nor will it in the future stop people from draining everything people might see as a wetland."

Taking and draining water from a wetland was a permitted activity (did not need a resource consent) if it was not in the schedule 9 of significant wetlands.

The wetland was on leased council-owned Kuriwao Endowment Land but under the 1948 Act governing the land, the council had no control over what was done on the land by the lessee.

The wetland was not in the current water plan so was not subject to any protective measures, he said.

Yep - you don't even need a resource consent to drain a wetland or starve it of water, then you can watch it slowly die. We need to help this wetland - I'll keep you posted on what we can do.

outstanding landscape deserves outstanding protection

Outstanding landscape under threat - but the miners say it is out of the way up the Nevis Valley so it doesn't matter. It is worth noteing as we have this fight against mining on schedule 4 protected lands that we have many places that deserve protection. The land contained within schedule 4 is only a sample of our outstanding lands and whilst we must stop their feeble attempts at mining that land we must also be mindful of the rest of the land, not contained within that schedule, also needs protecting. Maybe I am anti-mining - it does feel like a violation and we have so few unabused places. How many outstanding landscapes do we have left? If we take the effort to attribute the title 'outstanding landscape' to a place don't we then have an obligation to maintain that?

From The ODT

"Resource consent has been sought for an alluvial gold mining operation in the Nevis Valley in an area classified as an outstanding landscape.

Golden Bush Mining Ltd has sought land use consent from the Central Otago District Council to extract gold from a previously mined area at Schoolhouse Creek Flats. It already holds a mining permit for a 785ha block and planned to mine three strips of land within that block.

The council's landscape assessment maps identify the area as outstanding landscape.

As part of the operation, the mining company has also sought resource consent from the Otago Regional Council to take water from a mining pit next to a watercourse, for land use consent to alter the bed of a watercourse and to obtain a discharge permit.

The proposed mine was in a remote area. The closest dwelling was kilometres away so the possibility of dust being a nuisance was "practically nil".

A report prepared by ecologist and botanist Neill Simpson said the operation could be carried out over much of the site with minimal effect on the long-term ecological values of the area, providing places containing threatened plants were excluded.

There is a bit more to protect up the Nevis Valley than just threatened plants - although obviously they should be protected. This area has a rich history before they began digging for gold as evidenced by the large moa hunter sites found and subsequently lost. This valley was a lifeway for maori. And this area is very important for maori. It is an outstanding landscape with a outstanding history and future - if we protect it.

"The operation would comprise an open pit of "modest size" with the gold recovery plant on pontoons, floating in the mine pond."

It's a dirty business mining for gold - even on 'modest'scales.

What are you hiding vodafone?

Brighton beach... i know it well. (Side issue - what is the maori name for this beach and why don't we use that name - there are thousands of beaches around the world called brighton - another colonisation hangup.)

It seems that there is a bit of fuss about this new cellphone tower and the non-notification of Brighton residents.

Vodafone applies to build 30m communications tower on council-owned land near Brighton.

• The tower, near an existing Telecom facility, aims to improve mobile coverage and meet growing customer demand.

• Dunedin City Council staff opt for limited notification, meaning most Brighton homeowners not consulted.

• Submitters at yesterday's hearing argue for full public notification of Vodafone's proposal.

• Council hearings committee abandons resource consent hearing; "not satisfied" limited public notification was adequate.

• Vodafone's Brighton resource consent at centre of debate"

"Council planner Jeremy Grey recommended consent be granted with only limited notification for two homeowners living 85m and 160m away, because the tower's impact would be "no more than minor".

That was despite the tower's height breaching a 12m limit for a rural residential zone contained in the council's district plan. "

Amazing - there is a 12m (36ft) limit on height - the proposed tower is 30m (90ft) - that seems like almost a 3-fold increase to me!

Why not notify people about the proposed tower? What are they trying to hide? Come on vodafone this has a look of slyness about it. The tower is too tall, the notification is completely inadequate and your buddies on the council are about to be exposed... how about telling the truth?

Rakiura might get a 54 bed eco-hostel

Rakiura

Not sure about this one.

"The Youth Hostel Association of New Zealand is one ecofriendly footprint closer to building a two-storey 54-bed hostel and education centre on Stewart Island."

"The Southland District Council resource management committee this week granted land use consent to build the $3 million hostel, subject to appeals."

"We are wanting to create an interactive experience for people to introduce them to the environment."

Okay, if people need somewhere to stay on Rakiura - lets give them an eco-hostel... but if you really want to create an interactive experience and introduce visitors to the environment - why not just take them outside?

Eco-villages popping up

Motueka River

Atamai Eco-village first stage resource consent approved for the Motueka Valley. Good one, what are they going to have in this eco-village? First stage 10 houses, european-style village with solar panels, rainwater collection and composting toilets. 11.9ha to be used for common food growing.

For me that is all great. It is possible to get resource consent for eco-villages. It is possible to use a unique heritage to create an environment that means something to a group of people. Most of the Eco-villages here use european models, it will be great to see some maori and polynesian examples.

Ngai Tahu could do the same and have the massive added advantage of being able to apply our cultural matrx across everything. It's like going forward to the past.