Welcome Bay property rights issue settled

Tensions have eased for Welcome Bay landowners after they were told they still had property rights despite a sacred covenant being placed on Kopukairoa mountain.

About 20 Maori and non-Maori landowners met representatives of the Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Historic Places Trust last week to discuss the implications for properties after the wahi tapu was placed over 180ha of Kopukairoa, known as Old Baldy.

The council told landowners the wahi tapu would have little effect on the way the council dealt with resource consent applications under the district plan.