Boaties win long battle for marina

It is a defeat for Hauraki Maori and a win for Coromandel boaties.

The 13-year fight to build a 205-berth marina in Whangamata looks to be over, with the Environment Court giving the Marina Society the go-ahead for its estimated $10 million project.

The embargoed decision was given to affected parties at the end of last week, but the Herald obtained a copy of the 38-page judgment at the weekend.

The Marina Society first gained regional council approval eight years ago. However, since then a number of iwi groups - including Hauraki Maori Trust Board and Te Kupenga O Ngati Hako - have objected on the grounds that the harbour would be polluted, access to shellfish restricted and other kaimoana destroyed.

In their decision, Judge R.J. Bollard and commissioners A.H. Hackett and I.G. McIntyre said that seafood resources would remain available at Moana Point, some 400m away from where dredging and construction would take place.

Other evidence - given by iwi in 2001 - that the area was waahi tapu had proved relatively unpersuasive, the judgment said.

"Answers given under cross-examination were either lacking in consistency or unconvincing when weighed against the analysis advanced for the society by Mr B. Mikaere, a former director of the Waitangi Tribunal, and person qualified in Maori studies and well-versed in Maori issues generally."

However, it was accepted that Maori groups did have ancestral ties to Whangamata Harbour and Moanaanuanu Estuary, which was reflected by their "concerted and sustained opposition" to the marina.

Marina Society chairman Mick Kelly said he was delighted to gain approval for construction and dredging. "The society held its first meeting in May 1992, so it's been a very long process to get to this stage, with many unexpected hurdles and frustrating delays," he said.

"Cost so far has been in excess of $1 million."

There was a little way to go yet, Mr Kelly warned. Iwi groups had 15 working days to appeal the decision to the High Court, and Conservation Minister Chris Carter was yet to give sign-off for a coastal permit.

The plan was to have about 200 berths downstream of the causeway at the northern approach to the town centre. Mr Kelly said there would be onshore facilities for boat maintenance and secure trailer-boat parking.