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The chair of the Māori affairs select committee says walking on the whenua has helped members understand the depth of feeling around a petition opposing a special housing area at Ihumātao.
The committee visited the site near Auckland International Airport yesterday at the invitation of the Save Our Unique Landscape group, which is occupying the site of Fletcher Residential’s 480-house development.
Rino Tirikatene says the committee keen to hear from other interested parties including heritage experts and the developers and come up with recommendations.
"You can see just looking around the huge developments surrounding this area. I can understand the deep concern the haukainga have for this very sacred piece of land, It's brought it home to the committee the importance of this whenua, the importance of the kaitiaki here and the work they are doing, and we will do our utmost," he says.
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