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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Supporters to walk controversial Te Mata Peak track on Saturday

By Astrid Austin
Hawkes Bay Today·
22 May, 2018 12:31 AM3 mins to read

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Local Iwi protested upon the steps of Hastings District Council against the Council's involvement and Craggy Range's decision. Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said that Council acknowledges their views and is working hard to ensure all stakeholders are to come up with a solution that all parts of the community will be happy with.

A walk for supporters of the controversial Te Mata Peak track will be held on Saturday, but organisers claim it is not a counter-protest.

Te Mata Peak People's Track Society chairman George Williams said the walk, scheduled for Saturday, was simply a walk for all of those who want to experience the Hawke's Bay track.

"All that we want to get out of it is that people will enjoy the walk and feel happy and connected to the landscape.

"It is to show that there are a lot of people who do love this track."

Williams said he had always wanted to do something to show the numbers of people who enjoy walking the track and hoped somewhere between 200 to 300 people would attend.

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"If we get more that will be wonderful, but logistically we have also been very conscious of the fact that it is a very awkward area to have a lot of people in as it currently stands.

"Obviously, paramount to that is safety around everybody who wants to go out and enjoy the walk."

The walk comes after Ngāti Kahungunu iwi representatives, Waimarama mana whenua and others, protested outside Craggy Range Winery after the winery said it may not be able to remove the track as previously promised.

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On Tuesday, iwi descended upon the steps of Hastings District Council to protest against the council's involvement and Craggy Range's decision.

More than 10 people, holding placards and flags peacefully conveyed their concerns.

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst addressed the protesters and said the council acknowledged their views and was working on a solution all parts of the community would be happy with.

"We need to bring all the parties together to look at all the options."

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One of the protesters, Putaanga Waitoa, said her issue rested in the "empty words" and "broken promises"

"I know Craggy Range had good intentions, they just went the wrong way about it and I think the council is just as much to blame because they should have known better," she said.

"I believe that if we don't start standing for our land now, what is he going to look like in 20 years?

"As a Māori person, it hurts me because there are uneducated Pākehā that don't actually know that that land is tapu and they don't why we are out here.

"It surprises me that Craggy range, with their broken promises haven't closed the track properly, given that people will still be curious to walk up there."

Local resident Eve Kireka believed the track was not only "scarring of the land, but scarring of the mana of our people and it will scar our future generations".

"I also look at it that this is one of the signs that people are disrespecting iwi, disrespecting what we want as Māori, and what we know is right.

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"It's not just a track, it's a sign that more things will happen without proper procedures or policies being followed."

She was hurt with so walking the track despite all the controversy surrounding it.

"It really hurts me to see the people walking this track," she said.

"They're not really considering what's been going on and I wonder if it is because they don't care, they're not knowledgeable to know what this means to us or they are just putting a screen up so they don't see what's going on?"

Kathy Jones said protests would continue until the track was removed.

"The process was done wrong, as far as I'm concerned, and Hastings District Council need to be held accountable."

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