Left to right: Commissioners Shadrach Rolleston, Bill Wasley, Stephen Selwood, and commission chair Anne Tolley. Photo / Talia Parker
Pāpāmoa residents incensed over plans for planting in a public reserve have clashed with Tauranga's commissioners, with one resident fearing it will become full of "weeds, rubbish, and used condoms".
The stoush at a public meeting on Monday night is the latest in a years-long dispute between residents and the Tauranga City Council over native planting along Te Ara ō Wairākei stormwater reserve.
The reserve is part of a series of stormwater catchment ponds that run nearly the length of Pāpāmoa flanked by paths.
Resident claims include that previous planting looks like "a dog's breakfast", but the council says it is legally required to continue landscaping.
For Monday's meeting, the Pāpāmoa Community Centre's walls were lined with protest signs with slogans such as "Ratepayers have rights too!" and "Plant in your own backyard, not ours!"
At the meeting, commission chair Anne Tolley explained the Environment Court had handed down two requirements for the council to keep its stormwater drainage consent for the reserve.
These were to create a cultural plan and a landscaping plan for the Wairākei Reserve, which involved native riparian planting on the reserve.
She said the purpose of the meeting and future meetings was to find a compromise between the residents, who wanted no planting on the reserve, and iwi, who wanted the reserve planted.
"What we're suggesting is a compromise, and with any compromise, no one is ever satisfied. But at least we've got a plan that we can get on with," Tolley said.
Residents asserted that they wanted no planting on the part of the reserve they lived near.
"That isn't an option," Tolley said. "Iwi have to be consulted."
"Why?" came the response from several residents.
"Do they pay rates?", asked another. Tolley answered "yes".
Residents also objected to the idea the area had cultural significance for iwi.
"It's not culturally related to anything - it's not a structure that existed before. It functions as a drain," said a resident.
Another resident said, "we've made it [the reserve] pretty and nice - it's our culture".
"We've got an English culture," called out another.
Some residents voiced frustration there were no iwi representatives at the meeting.
"If they had any guts they would have turned up tonight," one said.
Tolley responded the iwi had already defended themselves at the Environment Court, and had not been invited to the meeting to do so.
Residents believed was a lack of community consultation on the issue.
"Well, I don't know what we're doing here tonight then," Tolley responded, before reading out a list of the previous consultation initiatives the council had undertaken on the matter.
"Tell us what you think - honestly, we will listen."
She asked residents to check the placement of the proposed plants and trees and provide feedback on their sightlines or concerns as homeowners.
Residents were worried the plants would not be well maintained.
"Who's going to look after the rats and other pests?" asked one concerned about the cost of maintenance for ratepayers.
'If there's more trees and low planting, I will survive that," said another resident. "What I won't survive is if it's full of weeds, rubbish and used condoms."
Others said areas of Te Ara ō Wairākei that had been planted "look like crap", "look like a jungle", and were "a dog's breakfast... an absolute mess".
Tolley acknowledged there had been a "significant problem with maintenance" across the city over the years, and said the council was looking into improvements.
She said it was possible the council could take over maintenance from contractors, and lift the standard to "get a bit of pride into the city".
Some residents implored the commissioners to refuse to comply with the court ruling.
"Let them take us to court and see what happens," one resident said.
Commissioner Stephen Selwood said refusing to plant would put the consent for the entire stormwater drain at risk.
"You may suggest that we breach the law... it is not good governance and I'm not prepared to do that."
Commissioner Bill Wasley told residents: "It is what it is".
"If we don't comply with that [the court ruling], we can be taken to task."
"You as ratepayers will be held accountable financially by the regional council. We don't have any money, it will come from you."
A resident suggested that if the plantings were not maintained properly, homeowners should be entitled to remove them.
"You can't take the law into your own hands," Tolley said.
The meeting concluded with Tolley promising future consultation.
After the meeting, the Bay of Plenty Times approached local iwi Ngā Pōtiki.
Chairman Peter Stokes said the iwi was committed to the Te Ara o Wairākei project in Pāpāmoa and fully supported the native riparian planting along the waterway by Tauranga City Council.
Also after the meeting, Commissioner Selwood told the Bay of Plenty Times the council's goal was to "reach a consensus" between iwi and residents.
"Iwi have agreed to compromise in the planting approach in this area, with some water edge areas planted and some with no planting.
"If we also achieve goodwill from residents through planned consultative meetings over the next few weeks, we will be in a position to deliver on our resource consent requirements.
"We have made a clear commitment to residents that we will lift the standard of maintenance in Te Ara o Wairākei, to enable a good outcome for all."
Communications adviser for Ngā Pōtiki ā Tamapahore Trust Scott Yeoman wrote in a previous opinion column the Wairākei used to be a stream that connected and fed into the Pāpāmoa wetlands.
Over time, it had been cut off from both its headwaters in the Pāpāmoa Hills and its coastal outlet into the ocean.
To enable large-scale flax harvesting, then farming, and, later, residential development, the wetlands were gradually drained. The waterway's purpose today is flood control and stormwater disposal, treatment and storage.
The iwi wanted the native planting to increase insect life and provide a buffer to encourage poaka - pied stilt - to return.
The planting would also support increasing numbers of other native birds, Yeoman said.