My Account
Unity and determination were the order of the day when Fight the Tip held a public meeting on March 19 to update followers on the ongoing Environment Court case against Waste Management NZ’s (WM) plans for a new regional landfill.
Around 60 people were at Wellsford Community Centre to hear the latest on the appeals, including a statement from Fight the Tip’s counsel Andrew Braggins. He said the court was taking the case extremely seriously, with a full bench of two respected judges and three commissioners, instead of the usual solo judge and two commissioners.
He said although the court had been careful not to give any indication of whether consent might be granted, the case had overall been going as well or better than originally anticipated.
“Presently, the case stands in the balance and there is a reasonable chance of success,” Braggins said.
“In particular, the cultural and ecological effects of the landfill clearly have been weighing on the court’s mind.”
The recent about-turn by the Ngati Manuhiri Settlement Trust to support WM came in for criticism by several speakers, including Fight the Tip deputy chair Michelle Carmichael.
“This has stirred up a lot of emotions with people and I get it,” she said. “I was absolutely devastated to hear it, along with the rest of our executive. To be honest, I felt completely betrayed.”
However, she said it was clearly a corporate decision, not a cultural one, and one where the environment was not the leading motivation. She said all the other appellants, plus local iwi and hapu, remained united in their opposition to the tip and fighting its consent.
Her sentiments were echoed and amplified by several other speakers including Ngāti Wai raukura chief executive Hūhana Lyndon, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua chief executive Alan Riwaka and Omaha Marae chair Annie Baines.
Fight the Tip’s Mikaera Miru also stressed how interwoven and connected all the region’s mana whenua were and the importance to everyone, whether Maori or pakeha, of their “most precious jewel”, the Kaipara Harbour.
And he reminded the meeting of the importance of the rahui tapu placed on the landfill site in 2019, which had been ignored by Auckland Council and WM.
“We put a rahui on that land and that is a challenge to the Crown,” he said. “If they do come to that land, then there will be a war on this land, and it won’t just be Māori, it will be Māori and pakeha together.
“If they break that tapu on that land, look out. There will be environmental war.”
