November 27, 2019
Ngati Porou cautious about blue highway plan
MATANUKU MAHUIKA INTERVIEW CLICK HERE
The chair of Ngati Porou’s commercial arm says the iwi is taking a wait and see approach to proposals to create a blue highway to get logs out of the East Coast.
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says ministers have been asked to support a proposal to beef up infrastructure at Hicks Bay to support a barging operation, but there appears to be opposition on environmental grounds from what he calls hippie hapū.
Matanuku Mahuika says in the past Ngāti Porou Holdings looked at a similar proposal for a port but backed away because it lacked wider community support.
Matanuku Mahuika says because of the terms off its marine and coastal area settlement Ngāti Porou and its hapū would have to be consulted about any proposal, and that has not happened so far.
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