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A dispute over who should speak for Ngāti Paoa on resource management has spilled into the High Court in Auckland.
The court is hearing an appeal from Save Kennedy Point against the granting of resource consent for a 186-berth marina on Waiheke.
The group says the Environment Court erred by accepting evidence from the Ngāti Paoa Iwi Trust that there was no cultural objection to the development, rather than from the Ngāti Paoa Trust Board.
Paora Toi Tu Te Rangiuaia from Waiheke’s Piritahi Marae says when the marae had raised objections to the development with the Iwi Trust, it was not aware there were two groups claiming to speak for the iwi.
He says the Iwi Trust had shown no respect to the marae community and its concern for the island’s environment.
"I just want to caution people who make decisions outside the rohe they live – it's a very top-down dictate and it's not acceptable to us who live here," he says.
The hearing is set to continue tomorrow.
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