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Ngati Kahungunu chair Ngahiwi Tomoana wants to know how a cycle track was carved into the face of one of the tribe’s most sacred mountains without consultation or notification.
Hastings District Council granted Craggy Range Vineyard a resource consent to create the 3 kilometre track on Te Mata Peak.
Mr Tomoana says the peak is recognised as the most important in Hawke’s Bay for cultural significance, not just because it is named after Rongokako, the grandfather of Kahungunu but as the place where Kahungunu women including his great great grandmother shed their blood before being taken into slavery by Waikato.
He says Craggy Range has apologised for getting offside with the tribe but the council has refused to concede it erred.
"It’s a gross insult in this day and age of iwi taking a lead in local, regional and national matters. It’s just gross misconduct by those in charge of the planning process of the resource consent process. They need to be hunted and haunted," Mr Tomoana says.
He compares the cycle path to someone cutting a bulldozer track up Uluru-Ayers Rock.
The Environmental Defence Society says it’s considering seeking a judicial review because the government failed to take into account the need to protect an outstanding natural landscape of national importance.
NGAHIWI TOMOANA FULL INTERVIEW
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