Hapu accuses council of racism over airport compo plan

A Rotorua hapu has filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission claiming the Rotorua District Council is racist.
Ngati Uenukukopako claims only non-Maori were offered compensation for properties which will be affected by the proposed extension of Rotorua Airport which it has labelled ``institutional racism'.
The council strongly rejects any claim of racism, saying the hapu's assertions are ``nonsense' and it is confident its record of working with Maori will stand up to scrutiny.
The council says it's mischievous for anyone to accuse Rotorua District Council of racism simply because an independent semi-judicial process did not give them the result they wanted.
The Te Arawa hapu says no offers were made to Ruamata Marae, Te Kohanga Reo and Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Ruamata Marae, but offers were made to the owners of a holiday park which, like the marae and kura, is immediately under the flight path.
Spokeswoman Hera Naera said the hapu was disappointed it was excluded from council offers of redress, despite all parties being similarly affected if the airport goes transtasman.
``Our complaint is not made lightly _ we've looked very closely into the council's decision and what we've found is shocking.'
Ngati Uenukukopako recently signalled its intention to fight the council's proposals by filing an appeal to the Environment Court.
Ngati Uenukukopako's properties were in areas where building would be prohibited or restricted and where the noise caused by airport operations and associated aircraft would be unbearable, Mrs Naera said.
``The council might say we were not offered redress because we didn't ask for it. However, the precedent has been set by the act of offering the redress to others who would suffer similar, if not the same, impacts.'
The hapu was seeking mediation and was seriously considering tabling a request for a cultural audit of the council, Mrs Naera said.

Rotorua District Council's director of environmental services, Nigel Wharton, said any suggestion of racism was ``clearly nonsense '.
Independent commissioners had made orders for compensation to both Maori and non-Maori property owners, he said.
Mr Wharton said Rotorua District Council was arguably the last local authority in the country that could be branded as racist, with a Maori deputy mayor, at least a third of its councillors and a large number of staff being Maori, and ``a long and proud history of successful partnerships with tangata whenua'.
``If the Human Rights Commission did decide to look into any complaint against us we would welcome such an investigation and be confident of the outcome.'
Decisions made last month allowing extensions to the Rotorua Airport runway were made by independent commissioners, not Rotorua District councillors.
The decisions were now out of the council's hands and under appeal to the Environment Court.