Ōwairaka: Maunga authority decides to appeal tree felling refusal

Local residents block the entrance to the summit of Owairaka / Mt Albert in protest. Photo / Jason Oxenham, Alan Gibson

Originally published by Māori Television

The Tūpuna Maunga Authority has taken steps to appeal a court decision refusing it permission to replace 345 exotic trees on Ōwairaka Mt Albert with 13,000 native trees and plants.

Earlier this month, the authority indicated it may dispute the finding, and now it has formally sought leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.

"It is vital for the authority to have a decision from the highest court in the land to provide clarity surrounding its co-governance decision-making powers to manage the Tūpuna Maunga," authority chair Paul Majurey (Ngāti Maru) said Wednesday.

In early March, the Court of Appeal set aside the authority's decision to fell the trees saying proper consultation had not been carried out and Auckland Council should have publicly notified the resource consent application.

"We had to make our own decision on whether to appeal," Majurey said.

The fight over plans to restore native flora to the maunga has been going on since 2019 and has been marked by occupation, accusations of racism and protracted legal battles.

The TMA, established through a 2014 Treaty of Waitangi settlement which returned ownership of the city's 14 tūpuna maunga (ancestral mountains) to 13 iwi, originally planned to remove 345 exotic trees and plant 13,000 natives on the maunga as part of a citywide restoration project.

Under the 2014 settlement, the maunga are held in trust by the iwi for the "common benefit of Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau and the other people of Auckland", and have reserve status.

They are managed by the TMA, with iwi and council representatives, which exercises its powers having regard to "the spiritual, ancestral, cultural, customary, and historical significance of the maunga to Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau".

- Additional reporting, NZ Herald