December 05, 2012
Ngāti Pikiao protest lake squatters
A Ngāti Pikiao hapū is at Lake Rotoiti today blockading a private boat ramp.
Ngāti Te Takinga says the Bay Of Plenty Trailer Yacht Squadron's boatramp at Okawa Bay is on land it gave for a public playground.
It says it will maintain a blockade until the gate is removed to allow the ramp to be used by the general public.
The council says the ramp was built in 1974 on land outside the reserve's title and a gate was put across it for safety, as there is a ski lane close to the bay.
Te Arawa Lakes Trust chief executive Roku Mihinui says as the 2006 treaty settlement ceded lake beds back to the iwi, the ramp was on trust land.
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