Two-and-a-half-year Waiheke protest camp draws fire

Structures on the beach at the bay where Auckland Council plans enforcement action.

An illegal beachfront Waiheke Island anti-marina protest camp has drawn fire from a neighbour saying locals are shocked and disgusted that buildings stayed there for two-and-a-half years.

Auckland Council says it is taking enforcement action against the illegal Pūtuki Bay camp opposite the new Kennedy Point marina but attempts to seek compliance in June and July had failed so it was taking matters further.

Kennedy Point Marina directors, Tony Mair and barrister Kitt Littlejohn, are about to open the new 181-berth marina, but meanwhile, the protest camp which tried but failed to stop the development in 2021 remains in place.

The Herald reported how protests two years ago delayed work for a time but ultimately failed to stop the project, consented to by the council last decade.

But one neighbour said this month enforcement action to dismantle the camp and remove buildings was taking too long and he complained to the Herald about it, saying people were fed up.

“Many Waiheke residents are shocked and disgusted about the people who have allowed this to drag on for so long,” the neighbour said, asking not to be named for fear of retaliation.

The protest camp opposite Kennedy Point Marina in the background.

“For over two and a half years, this community have not been able to gain access to this beach which is supposedly a public space.”

Asked what he thought of action by authorities, a man living at the camp told the Herald this week: “If they want to take them and come and see me themselves, that’s all I’ve got to say.”

The neighbour said the buildings weren’t a protest any more because the marina was built and about to open. There was no justification for the prolonged and illegal occupation, he said.

Photos show wood pallets used to stabilise the sloping beach to create a level building platform. Two peak-roof temporary dwellings are up, one with perspex windows looking out to the beach and another tent-like structure covered in plastic.

A neighbour says two-and-a-half years of putting up with these structures on the beach is far too long.

“How can authorities possibly think any of this is okay and how can they possibly continue to do nothing?” the neighbour asked, complaining of rubbish, nuisance, unprotected steel Waratahs and reinforcing bars sticking out of the ground which he said was a health and safety issue.

The neighbour has complained to Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick and local councillor Mike Lee as well as Mayor Wayne Brown but said he’d got no satisfaction from anyone.

But an Auckland Council official said there was definitely action underway to try to get the camp removed.

David Pawson, team leader of compliance investigations, said the council had issued a bylaw notice for non-compliance with the Public Safety & Nuisance Bylaw 2013.

The council sought compliance with that by June 30, asking for the site to be vacated and for structures to be removed.

But nothing happened, Pawson said.

Parking between two illegal structures on the beach at Waiheke Island opposite the new 181-berth marina.

“This was then extended to July 31. As compliance has still not been achieved, we are in the process of determining further enforcement options,” Pawson said.

Asked how many complaints the council got against the camp, he indicated a number.

“The exact number of complaints related to this site is difficult to quantify as they have come through a variety of channels,” Pawson said.

He didn’t specify exactly what action the council planned against the camp.

But online, the council says its most common legal proceedings are prosecutions and enforcement actions are for non-compliance with regulatory requirements, e.g. a breach of a bylaw, resource or building consent. In considering whether to bring an enforcement action or to prosecute, the council adopts an escalated approach, i.e. an enforcement officer will assess the nature of the non-compliance and, in particular, whether it was intentional.

The new floating services building is in place and the marina is due to open soon. Photo / Kennedy Point Marina

Asked about the protest camp, Littlejohn said Kennedy Point Marina has been in regular contact with the council to understand its process to clean up the beach, “now that the camp has been abandoned. We have been told that it is something they are working on.”

But a neighbour said the camp wasn’t abandoned. One man lived there permanently, working locally.

The Herald reported the marina was scheduled to be opened last month. On July 3, Littlejohn said construction was nearing completion with berth structures up, building work progressing fast and was on target for opening in about three months’ time.

Construction mid-winter was around 85 per cent finished.

Water bottles, timber, housing structures, a trailer, seats and metal at the camp on Waiheke Island.

The last concrete pour for the marina’s new wharf was then planned and then balustrades, gates, gangways and utilities will be installed. All of the floating units for the 70 car parks for marina users are on-site and piled in place, and only the last three berth piers need to be completed, he said. The marina’s floating office/cafe building built in Whangārei arrived recently.

“There’s no specific opening date in September yet. It all comes down to the final signoff of engineering works and consented plans. We’ve advised berth holders that once these come through and all of the systems are up and operating they will be able to bring their boats in,” Littlejohn said in July.

Sales have been strong at what is Waiheke’s only marina in the bay where the car ferry is based.

Of the 181 berths, 90 per cent are under contract to be settled on opening, the marina business says.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 23 years, has won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.