Letter to the Editor: Thursday March 23, 2017

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A dirty little secret involving Whatuwhiwhi Top 10 Holiday Park and the Te Hiku Community Board is finally being exposed.

Many ratepayers, residents and regular visitors to the Karikari Peninsula would never know that the land immediately across the road from the Perehipe Beach front includes a substantial recreation reserve.

It is understandable if people don't know, or feel robbed of their community asset, because for some years now the local community board has allowed exclusive use of a significant piece of this reserve to be taken up by the Whatuwhiwhi Top 10 Holiday Park.

This has been described as an "informal lease" to allow more space for overflow campers.

Hardly informal with the Holiday Park's previous owners installing buildings, concrete pad, power to camp sites and a fence to keep the rest of us out.

There has always been more space for overflow campers with at least one other camp ground on the peninsula.

Has the community board shown unfair favouritism to one camp ground over another?

The only things informal about this arrangement are that over a number of years it would appear the community had never been consulted and a fee or lease was never charged, when camp fees were collected and pocketed by this commercial enterprise.

At the very least, this has been a highly questionable way to undermine our local democracy.

Meanwhile locals and other regular visitors to Perehipe at peak periods have had to tolerate congestion on the beach with boat launch and retrieval and beachfront erosion, this combination making access and enjoyment difficult at times.

All of this could be overcome with the reclaiming of all of this reserve for non-exclusive use.

Have your say before March 4. Online www.fndc.govt.nz/Perehipe17 or pick up a submission form from the Whatuwhiwhi Store, complete and send to FNDC.

ANNIE TOTHILL
Tokerau Ratepayer