Teens taken home from Maungaturoto bush hut

A group of Maungaturoto youths have been evicted from a bush hut after residents raised concerns about intimidation and damage to a nature reserve.
The youths had moved into tranquil Nikau Grove in Whaka Rd, building a shelter from hacked-down nikau palms and a tarpaulin.
Nobody was home when the Northern Advocate visited yesterday but evidence of human habitation was clear. Bedding, backpacks and candle stubs lay on a floor of shade cloth.
Elsewhere in Maungaturoto empty bottles litter the ground.
Bream Bay area Sergeant Murray Van Der Veeken said he took three teens aged 15 and 16 out of the park and home to their parents yesterday afternoon.
The problems began when other youths started to congregate at the hut and then on Maungaturoto's streets.
"The community was right to be concerned," Mr Van Der Veeken said.
One resident, who asked not to be named, said she was worried about damage to the bush, and the welfare of the youths sleeping there.
She said about a dozen boys and girls - aged from their teens to about 22 - were responsible for the hut.
She was concerned by an initial lack of response from police and the Kaipara District Council, but the problem also stemmed from young people having nothing to do in the town.
Maungaturoto Business Association chairman Mike Forbes said a meeting planned for next Tuesday aimed to address the problem in a positive way. The meeting would cover the lack of activities for young people in Maungaturoto and a proposed "night owls" town patrol to assist police.
He know of one young person who had been sleeping in the hut for at least two weeks and hoped the young people involved would also attend the meeting.