Matakana locals defend island sanctuary against development

Build your millionaire's playground and we'll burn it to the ground. That's the threat flying around Matakana Island as more than two-thirds of its population prepare to defend their island sanctuary against a planned 200-home Pauanui-style canal development.

Hotly debated by those who live on the island, on the seaward side of Tauranga Harbour, for the past three years, the Matakana Waterways project is a joint venture between Matakana Island Trust's (MIT) commercial arm, TKC Holdings, and Kapiti-based developers Pritchard Group.

Teeming with birdlife, Matakana Island is home to the variable oystercatcher and New Zealand's largest population of endangered dotterels and renowned for its indigenous dune, freshwater and estuarine vegetation.