Last-ditch action to save Massey's 'killer' waterhole

Three children have drowned in "Maori Hole" - the last in 2001.

Massey residents call it Maori Hole - a deep pot of rock carved out of the bottom of a waterfall by the force of the Huruhuru Creek.

But after tempting generations of children to jump in and swim in its green murk, the hole in the bushy gorge is to be filled in.

Three children drowned in the hole over a decade - the last one in 2001, says the Waitakere City Council.

The hole is cordoned off by high construction site fences and the council has refused the Herald access to take a photograph.

Security men had orders to make sure no one could clamber down to it from reserves on either side of the gorge.

"We fenced it off after the 2001 tragedy and put up warning signs but we saw someone climb over the fence and swing off a tree and jump in, which was really dangerous," said council group manager of assets, Tony Miguel.

In September 2003 the council's city development committee overrode the opinion of the Massey Community Board and voted for reducing the risk of any future drowning by filling the waterhole in.

A resource consent for the work was given by the Auckland Regional Council without calling for a public hearing.

Work has started to dry out the hole by building coffer dams in the creek above and below it and a lay a pipe to bypass the creek round the hole. Workers have sucked out a metre-deep depository of ooze on the bottom in preparation for the next stage: emptying 70 truckloads of concrete to fill its 12m depth.

But progress toward finishing the $710,000 job in mid-April has been hampered by the protests of residents, including one man sitting in a kayak.

Resident Ian Miller is pleading a case for stopping the work. "This is one of the last places in urban Auckland that have escaped the attention of developers," he said.

"They say it's a killer hole but there's no evidence to substantiate this hole is the culprit in the drownings."

To take revenge on the environment by filling in and concreting over was just not right, said Mr Miller.

John Riddell, of Massey & Birdwood Settlers Association, said he and four other community board members had asked for a special board meeting for residents to raise concerns and call for work to stop.

Mayor Bob Harvey would not allow the men to speak at the open forum before last week's council meeting, saying the issue had been resolved and voted on by the council.

An advocate for the city's young people, Councillor Linda Cooper, said it was too late to cancel the contract without the council being liable for a large compensation claim.

* The city council is also refusing to bow to residents' last-ditch attempts to stop the closing of a library.

The Te Atatu South library will shut its doors on Friday, March 3, despite last week's protest march and rally by 100 people during which an organiser was arrested.

The organiser, Meredydd Barrar, said the council had brought forward the closure and it meant residents would be without library services in the immediate area until the new Waitakere Central Library - shared with Unitec - opened on March 23.

He said the council was arrogantly ignoring the wishes of the community for a full library service for Te Atatu South and the difficulties facing the elderly and parents with children in attending the replacement in Henderson.

Mr Barrar said he had pleaded not guilty to a charge of disorderly behaviour following his ejection from the council chamber when he became angry that few councillors were present to hear him. He would also fight a trespass order banning him from the council building for two years. "This extends until after the council elections and is the crudest form of political censorship."

But Mayor Bob Harvey said Mr Barrar "has done his dash with us".