Waimarama beach land battle lost

A group of Waimarama home owners are set to lose a long-standing battle to hold on to beachside reserve land on which they have built lawns, gardens, a deck and even a swimming pool.
A last-minute bid by the owners to hold on to a 4m strip of the land was rejected by Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule at a council visit to the site yesterday.
Boundaries could be changed slightly but the four metres landowners had requested "won't happen", Mr Yule said.
High profile lawyer Mai Chen of Chen Palmer had reportedly been engaged by some residents to question the Hastings District Council's handling of the land dispute.
Councillors and council staff met with landowners at Teakitai Road, where property additions have illegally encroached on to the Pouhokio Stream Reserve.
They were met by protesters and local iwi representatives, who urged council to protect public access to the reserve.
Local resident Adele Mohi-McGoverin said the residents had been told to remove everything in the middle of last year but nothing had happened in six months.
"The fact is they are illegally encroaching on to public land," she said. "It should never have got to this stage."
She said the landowners had made it look like private land and discouraged members of the public from visiting.
Waimarama Marae chairman Bayden Barber said the land was gifted to the crown as public land.
"If the crown is finished with it for that purpose it should come back," he said. "It should be a public reserve, that's what it was intended to be."
Mr Yule told protesters at the site that the council position was the encroachments would have to be removed.
If that was confirmed at the February 8 meeting the encroachments should be removed within a month, he said.
Protesters were unconvinced, saying they had heard similar claims before.
Daniel Moffat, whose family owns one of the properties, said the landowners were prepared to get rid of anything the council told them to remove, but hoped councillors would let the landowners keep the big trees and continue caring for the property.
"It is their land, but these three landowners have looked after it for so long," he said.
Mr Yule said the main issue would be access.
The entry to the reserve made it unclear where the boundary was between private and public and there was no space for parking, so access may be limited to a walking path.
He was positive about landowners continuing to look after the area and said council would help develop an appropriate landscaping plan.
"I think that's a good suggestion. We just have to work out the boundaries," he said.
"We're looking for a commonsense solution. The biggest challenge is going to be access."