June 29, 2021
Urupa housing consent challenged
A group of Ngāti Awa rangatahi today braved the weather to demonstrate in support of an appeal against a proposed 250-unit retirement home on a traditional burial area.
Whakatāne District Council granting consent for a residential subdivision on land across the river from the town which it sold in 2017.
Group member Esmay Tiana Wharewera says Ōpihi Whanaungakore is still used for burials.
"Definitely it's desecration to our tīpuna, also our whānau that are buried at Ōpihi. It's not a nice feeling to have development proposed for that particular part of the whenua," she says.
Esmay Tiana Wharewera says her group is trying to raise wider iwi and community awareness of the need to protect Ōpihi Whanaungakore.
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