March 04, 2022
Pākiri sand mining case undermined
Pākiri kaitiaki hope commissioners will heed the huge opposition to dredging sand off Pākiri.
Auckland-based McCallum Brothers has been dredging sand off the beach for more than 70 years, and it’s seeking resource consent from Auckland Council to take another 9 million metres over the next 35 years.
Olivia Hadden from Ngāti Manuhiri says the application heard last week failed to identify underlying Treaty issues and showed no understanding of the cultural landscape.
“Council initially supported it and said there were no effects on Māori and we did challenge that and based on the evidence we provided at the hearing council did a U-turn,” she says.
Olivia Hadden says while Te Whānau o Pākiri has in the past accepted some dredging because the sand was used to replenish other Auckland beaches. It was concerned at the scale and length of the current application and at the damage done to the beach through breaches of the current consents.