Hapu say the area is a traditional food source and the tangata whenua contact did not speak for them, reports ANGELA GREGORY.
OPUA - Maori have called for a halt to the construction of a 240-berth marina at Opua and plan to occupy the Bay of Islands site next month.
The occupation organiser, Kingi Taurua, said about 100 Maori from Ngapuhi, Ngati Hine and other hapu (subtribes) voiced their opposition to the marina development at a hui in Waiomio, near Kawakawa, at the weekend.
They regarded the marina site, north of the wharf, as an important traditional food source and were also upset at the recent sale of a strip of former railway land at Opua to a company owned by the Far North District Council.
The land had been under Maori claim but was released for sale to the adjoining property-owner, Far North Holdings, which owned Opua Marina Management.
The Crown had decided the 8530 sq m marginal strip was not suitable for landbanking.
Mr Taurua said those at the hui were unanimous in agreeing to carry on with plans to occupy the marina development in about three weeks.
He admitted that there was no legal recourse to stop the development, which had obtained resource consents.
But he said Maori remained vehemently opposed to a marina in the area that the late Sir James Henare had marked in 1987 with a carved pole as a constant reminder of the special significance of Opua waters.
The hui was also upset that a local Maori family trust, represented by Arapeta Hamilton, had set itself up as the tangata whenua contact for the area.
Mr Taurua said Mr Hamilton's Te Urikaraka Trust was only a whanau of the local Ngati Manu hapu of Ngapuhi.
He had copies of Opua Marina Management correspondence that advised Mr Hamilton he would receive two free marina berths for his advice on cultural matters and his undertaking to provide guidance during the construction and operation of the marina.
Mr Taurua said other Maori were outraged that Mr Hamilton seemed to have set himself up as the tangata whenua.
It was also Mr Hamilton who cleared the way for the sale of the railway land.
Mr Taurua said the hui had called on Mr Hamilton to explain his position at another hui in a fortnight.
Mr Hamilton could not be reached for comment yesterday, but a spokesman told the New Zealand Herald this month that he had been duped into agreeing to the sale of the railway land by a promise that it would be jointly owned with iwi.
The marina is expected to be finished early next year, and more than 200 berths are understood to have sold already, for more than $10 million.
The chairman of Far North Holdings, Richard Dimmock, could not be reached for comment.
Maori press on with plan to occupy Opua marina
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