Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei deputy chair Ngarimu Blair says the trust is contacting Ports of Auckland today to see if it can start on new mayor Wayne Brown’s call for action on moving port activities.
Mr Brown wants the port company to work with mana whenua and other stakeholders on a plan and timeline for ending car importing and container services on the site, shifting freight from road to rail, and opening up more of the waterfront to the public.
Mr Blair says he’s pleased Mr Brown has acknowledged Orakei as the tangata whenua.
He says for more than a century the hapu has protested the rampant growth of the port, and it has also worked in recent years to develop a relationship with the port company.
“They’re well aware of our desire to have more efficient use of the port so that more land can be freed up for public access and they are also well aware of our historic grievances over the actual theft of our seabed for the purposes of the port and they are keen to understand those issues further,” Mr Blair says.
In 2019 Ngati Whatua Orakei published master plan for the port, including a network of reclaimed beaches and boulevards as well as a mix of public, commercial and residential buildings on the site.
