Huntly campsite occupiers arrested

Eight people were arrested as a Maori group occupying a Huntly campsite were evicted yesterday.

Police were called to help Waikato District Council staff hand the group a trespass notice. About a dozen police officers were involved in the eviction.

Those arrested are understood to include Te Kuru Pounamu and his wife, Kereru, who led the occupation when it started this month.

A council subcommittee had planned to take over the Lake Hakanoa Motor Caravan Park when a management lease ran out at the end of June but the occupiers got there first.