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Rodney Local Board has granted a community lease for a vacant house on Sandspit Wharf to be used as a marine educational hub by Manuhiri Kaitiaki Charitable Trust, the operational arm of Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust (NMST).
Members voted to publicly notify their intention to grant NMST the lease a year ago (MM, Oct 9, 23).
This attracted four submissions, two in favour and two against, and triggered a one-day hearing in August, which recommended granting the lease.
However, two members at the board’s monthly meeting on November 20 were not happy with either the recommendation or the three-year process.
Tim Holdgate criticised council for failing to notify submitters of the hearing decision and said the Sandspit community felt like there had been insufficient consultation.
Community lease specialist Karen Walby said the hearing manager had apologised for the oversight in not notifying submitters, and added that “a large consultation” with all interested parties had been undertaken in 2021.
More controversially, Colin Smith claimed NMST had no affiliation with the land at Sandspit, and said it belonged to Ngāti Rongo.
“Manuhiri means ‘visitor’ and their rohe is out at Great Barrier,” he said. “They are only the treaty partner for Auckland Council, they do not have any rohe in our area.”
At least two members told Smith he was misinformed and wasn’t helping.
Members voted to grant the lease for five years, with a right to renew for a further five years, at a nominal $1 rent. Smith and Holdgate voted against.
After the meeting, NMST kaitakawaenga Delma O’Kane made a formal complaint to the local board, saying Smith’s comments were factually incorrect, inappropriate and “deeply disappointing and harmful”.
“The remarks cast a shadow over what should have been a positive outcome, as we look forward … to fostering community engagement about our beautiful Te Moananui ā Toi Hauraki Gulf,” she said.
O’Kane added that NMST was legally recognised as the mandated iwi authority in the region and Manuhiri in this instance referred to an ancestor directly descended from the priestess Mahurangi, not the dictionary definition.
