Marc Ellis is facing more controversy over his plans for a cafe at Piha. Photo / Greg Bowker
An email by celebrity Marc Ellis has caused a fresh scrap over the Piha cafe he and his mates want to build.
But it has also led to a promise from Ellis: "If the people of Piha don't want it - it won't happen."
The email was sent
by Ellis to a slew of friends, and copied on and sent further, in a bid to swing an internet poll on the cafe.
Emails urging the opposite view have also been distributed by opponents to the resource consent application that Ellis and four of his friends have filed to build the cafe.
The plan has split the community, with some arguing they want to preserve the non-commercial spirit of the beach community.
Others, however, have welcomed the opportunity for somewhere other than the township's single shop to buy coffee and food.
The email, sent by Ellis, urges people to click on an email address and vote "yes" to the poll question of whether the cafe at Piha should go ahead.
"Predictably a few nay-sayers are trying to hold this up and stop something that 95 per cent of the community wants - isn't NZ Beaut..." it reads. "By way of example, as a result of these nay-sayers it took two years to decide on the colour to paint the public toilet at Piha!!"
Bobbie Carroll, who runs the website pihabeach.co.nz which is hosting the poll, said she was upset with the email Ellis had sent out.
She said it was an attempt to distort the results of the poll and she had already found a way to disregard any votes which came from the email that had been forwarded on.
"What it says to me is 'this is the way we are going to operate'."
Ellis said he was simply giving people who supported his plan the chance.
"I mention nay-sayers - Christ, I'm right! They're jumping up and down over an email."
