The view from Little Munro Bay resident Greg Grant's kitchen window. Photo / NZME
The view from Little Munro Bay resident Greg Grant's kitchen window. Photo / NZME
In a bay of bush-clad slopes and quiet coastal homes, a hillside shrine of giant statues has become what locals consider an eyesore.
For years, the unauthorised installation has drawn crowds, complaints, and council scrutiny, but after a long-running battle, the seaside landscape will remain after a compromise wasreached in the Environment Court.
Yanhua Wang, who owns several properties and businesses in Auckland, bought the Little Munro Bay property in Whangārei in 2010.
Native trees backing on to a reserve were felled, and a network of terraces and 146 statues, some as high as 4.5m, was installed.
After multiple complaints to the local council, a commissioner found in 2024 that the scale and placement of the terraces and statues created more than minor adverse landscape and visual effects.
The commissioner also noted that vegetation clearance and the colour choice of the structures added to the council and community’s concerns.
While the commissioner acknowledged Wang’s cultural beliefs, they concluded the proposal failed the gateway tests and consent was refused.
In that decision, the commissioner noted a different outcome could have potential if upper terraces were removed and some statues moved further down the embankment.
Yang appealed the decision to the Environment Court and the two parties went to mediation, where they reached an agreement.
Under the agreement, the number of statues is to be reduced from 147 to 128, and the upper terraces will be removed within three months.
The upper slope is then to be vegetated with native plants and no artificial lighting or sound effects are to accompany the statues.
All terraces, roofs and statue supports must also be repainted in one uniform, low-reflect blue colour.
Most of the dwellings in Little Munro Bay are green to blend in with the surrounding bushland.
The tallest statues at 4.5m sit at the top of the terraces. Photo / NZME
Planners and landscape architects for Wang and the council confirmed the revised proposal now passes the s104D tests and aligns with the District Plan’s outstanding natural landscape (ONL) and Outstanding Natural Coastal Area (ONCA) provisions.
In December, Environment Court Judge Jeff Smith accepted the agreement and issued a consent order under the Resource Management Act.
Smith emphasised the court was not making a merits determination but endorsing an agreement reached by the parties, noting the revised proposal “appears appropriate” and expert input had shaped the conditions.
The agreed plan at the Little Munro Bay Buddhist site. Photo / Environment Court, Sanson and Associates, Simon Cocker landscape architecture
The consent has a 12-month clause in which the council will review conditions if unforeseen landscape or visual effects arise.
Greg Grant lives across the road and has a direct view into the property from his kitchen.
He said no one lives at the property and the site is empty most of the time, with only gardeners attending.
“It’s just become a shrine in the middle of nowhere. I still can’t get my head around what it’s there for.”
No one was on site when NZME went to visit.
The Whangārei District Council did not wish to provide comment to NZME.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
