June 15, 2021
Iwi dismayed as mega tip gets green light
The chair of one of the iwi fighting the Dome Valley mega-tip says the Government has been missing in action on an issue that affects the future health of the Kaipara Harbour.
Mook Hohneck says Ngāti Manuhiri was dismayed but not surprised at the split decision by independent commissioners to grant consent to Chinese-owned Waste Management New Zealand to construct and operate a 60ha landfill on its 1000ha Wayby site.
It's been left to Manuhiri and Ngāti Whātua to lead the fight.
"For a Government that stands for environmental sustainability and healthy waters and everything else we can't understand the lack of political interaction and lack of political conversations with ourselves as mana whenua. We've had some conversations but when they have the big pūtea and big budgets like these Chinese companies and the like have we're up against it but we're willing to take that fight on," he says.
Mook Hohneck says the process of moving 5 million cubic metres of soil to build the landfill will make a major impact on the ecology of the catchment.
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