Protest sheep says proposed marina on Waiheke Island would be baaaaad

A Waiheke Island woman has brought her pet sheep to protest at Parliament.

The woman accompanied by her pet sheep arrived at Parliament to tell MPs that a proposed marina at the island's Kennedy Point would be baaaaaaaaaaaad.

Sue Pawley spent four days driving to Parliament from Waiheke Island to deliver a 9000-strong petition to Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye.

The Environment Court has granted consent for a 186-berth marina at Kennedy Point, including a floating car park for 72 cars.

Pawley said that Multi, her 5-year-old sheep, came with her because she was responsible for getting most of the signatures.

"You want to know about the sheep, don't you? Well, so does everyone else. Anybody walking along the street says, 'What are you two doing? What do you have the sheep for?'

"I say, 'She's a pet and she's helping me collecting signatures.' She's the one who's got most of the signatures by the interest she creates."

Multi also enjoyed Kennedy Point, Pawley said, and she often wandered into the local chemist.

"The tourists come into the chemist shop ... and you say, 'Don't you have a sheep in your chemist shop?'

Pawley said that Multi loved to travel with her in her car.

"She goes everywhere in the car, and if I don't take her out in three or four days, she'll start pushing me towards the car, and then we hop in and we go for a ride."

Pawley walks with crutches and, when asked her age, says she's "as old as her teeth".

She is part of Waiheke community group Save Kennedy Point, which is seeking a new hearing of the marina application because it says the wrong Ngati Paoa iwi group was consulted over the application.

The iwi trust accepted the proposal, but it is opposed by the iwi trust board and Waiheke's Piritahi marae, according to marae member Kathryn Ngapo.