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Auckland mayor Phil Goff is dismissing criticism from Ngāti Whātua Rūnanga chair and Māori Heritage Council member Dame Rangimarie Naida Glavish of the siting of the Erebus Memorial on a Parnell pā site.
Dame Naida says there wasn’t proper consultation with iwi, and the concrete and steel construction could damage the giant pōhutukawa now standing on what was the entrance to Mataharehare Pā overlooking Judges Bay in Sir Dove Meyer Robinson Park.
But Mayor Goff says the advice he has is the tree will not be damaged, and there was extensive consultation with the appropriate hapū.
"Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei have been involved in the process all the way through and their position has been supportive and they are the people who were consulted and worked with through the process by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage when the decision was made," he says.
Mr Goff says the time has come to give the relatives of those who died when the Air New Zealand flight crashed in Antarctica almost 42 years ago an appropriate memorial.
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