My Account
Olivia Haddon presents images of the seafloor from 1995.
Pakiri’s Olivia Haddon said she was continuing the fight her father Laly Haddon started when she appeared before commissioners at Pakiri Hall on May 10, asking them to decline Kaipara’s application.
Ms Haddon said when the last consent was granted, it was ruled that the kaitiaki role of her family should be provided for and the family should be involved with monitoring.
“My father was unable to stop the sand mining, but ensured a relationship of consultation and partnership,” she said.
However, she said this relationship had failed in recent years, and that Kaipara Ltd had since contracted McCallum Bros to undertake its extraction.
She said Te Whanau o Pakiri had originally welcomed the relationship with Kaipara Ltd, with the aim of encouraging a gradual withdrawal and “cessation” of sand extraction activities.
She said ongoing sand extraction had resulted in the loss of kaimoana on the coast, including horse mussels, pipi and tuatua.
Ms Haddon submitted maps made by the late Dr Roger Grace showing areas of special ecological significance along the coast with shellfish beds spread throughout.
“Our collective memory tells us this, but this mapping from 1996 provides a baseline.”
She said the Pakiri Whanau have held unbroken occupation of Pakiri, including its valleys and coastline.
“We are one of the last remaining Maori freehold landowners in the Auckland region. Only two per cent remain. We have a special relationship with the coastline.”
Ms Haddon said her whakapapa to the area meant she had a responsibility as kaitiaki.
“These Holocene relic sands are our taonga.”
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