Mayor urges common sense on wharf barricade protest

Protesters have barricaded Matakana Island's Panepane Wharf for second time in three days, with the wharf's owner, the Western Bay District Council, signalling it would not be removing the barbed wire fence this weekend.

''We are hoping common sense will prevail,'' Western Bay Mayor Garry Webber told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend.

The fence was strung across the wharf on Thursday, the day after council contractors removed debris dumped on the wharf on Monday to prevent access.

Webber said a cemetery headstone was being unveiled on Matakana today and it was decided it would be better to step aside and make sure the unveiling went ahead without disruption.

He said the council was sympathetic with what was trying to be achieved but was upset at how some people were getting the message across.

The whole of the island and the council wanted visitors to respect the beach and not defecate in the bushes, light fires or leave rubbish behind, he said.

''We all want to achieve the same end.''

It was his ''clear view'' after talking to island kaumatua Hauata Palmer yesterday the barricades were put up by a minority of islanders.

Webber said there was no timetable around when the fence would be removed.

''Diplomacy is far more appropriate for this sort of occasion.''

He said everything was on the table although he did not want it to extend to ratepayers funding the employment of a seasonal ranger at the wharf.

''If we had to put a ranger on every beach to make sure people behaved sensibly, you would have to ask where we have arrived at.''

Webber said it was all about cause and effect. The council did not condone what had been done to block the wharf, but the original cause was the behaviour of people that used the beach.

He said the matter had been left in the hands of island kaumatua and the council would be touching base with Hauata Palmer on Monday. ''We would like it resolved sensibly and quickly.''

Council acting chief executive Gary Allis said the council was willing to work out a joint management plan for the site, including facilities.

He said there was a single long-drop toilet near the wharf.

''It is not designed for a hundred people at a time.''

Allis said a group of 70 school kids were prevented from being landed on the wharf on Thursday after the fence went up.

Experiencing the whole wilderness thing meant the area was becoming more and more popular. The council wanted to go through a planning exercise to determine the publicly accessible land from the no-go areas, and then put in infrastructure to cater for the public usage, he said.

Kewpie Harbour Cruises owner Brandon Stone declined to comment on the latest barricade after earlier this week criticising the people who piled debris on the wharf as ''taking the law into their own hands''.

Mr Palmer was unable to be contacted for comment yesterday. Earlier in the week he expressed concern the barricades were jeopardising the process by which islanders were negotiating with the Western Bay District Council for the return of 180 hectares of Panepane Point to their five hapu.

The area under protest was part of the council-owned land.

Meanwhile, a Matakana Island man living in Australia has slammed coverage of the wharf protest and the offensive comments posted to some news websites and social media.

Matthew Tutaki, a radio host and chairman of Suicide Prevention Australia, posted a video to his public Facebook page defending his family and the island he called home.

He said the issue behind the protest was people landing on the island – either independently or via tour boats – and leaving rubbish and human waste or starting fires, as well as the lack of facilities at the Panepane end of the island.

Tutaki said comments suggesting "bombing the island", withdrawing services such as the rescue helicopter services or that the protest was just Maori "taking things away" were racist and disgusting.

"Everyone is going down the route of Maori bashing and that is not ok."