February 06, 2020
Grapes cause wrath as iwi split on heritage values
Some iwi members in Te Tau Ihu want Heritage New Zealand to take tougher action to stop grapevines being planted at the site of an ancient settlement.
Keelan Walker from Rangitāne o Wairau says almost 20 years ago the then-Historic Places Trust stopped development on Kowhai Pa near the Wairau Bar.
The land was subsequently onsold.
In 2016 when Heritage New Zealand was told the new owners had constructed a fence and cleared scrub near the pā, it agreed to an out of court settlement rather than prosecution.
He says the company has now planted vines in what an area Heritage NZ identified as highly likely to contain subsurface archaeological deposits.
The fact the new owners are Māori makes it very difficult for the mana whenua iwi, Rangitāne ki Wairau, Ngāti Toa Rangatira and Ngāti Rarua.
"One of the landowners sits on the board of trustees here at Rangitāne o Wairua. When we go to them and ask them to hold these people accountable for their actions, we're not seeing a lot of action. So I think the only avenue is to go back to Heritage New Zealand and point out that the crown had a responsibility in our settlement with them to protect these areas, and the crown had failed as well," he says.
Keelan Walker says he’s inspired by the action at Ihumātao to stop a heritage site on private land being developed.
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