A peaceful protest march to the offices of Hauraki mayor John Tregidga delivered a message that he did not speak for all locals when he publicly berated Land Information Minister Eugenie Sage's decision to block a Waihi land sale for new mining infrastructure.
The mayor, who has announced he will not restand for election this year, met the group outside before the full council meeting in Paeroa on Wednesday last week before handing over to deputy mayor Toby Adams.
The group had announced it would hand over a new mayoral chain to Tregidga, "a chain weighed down by the gold industry". They waved banners as they stood to debate mining under conservation land, on and under the Karangahake area and the mayor's reaction to a recent decision by Minister Sage to disallow a land sale to OceanaGold for a new tailings facility near Waihi.
"Waihi Martha Mine is a tradition, it has been going for ages and there's good and bad," said one of the protesters, Waihi local Colin Francis. "We accept that when we go to live there. But Karangahake is a whole different ball game."
Protect Karangahake spokeswoman Beccy Dove said a "heated" debate with Mr Adams seemed to indicate the council was focused on how it was tied by government legislation.
"But at the same time the council is downing Eugenie Sage for her stance.
"The mayor is definitely supporting the mining industry and those comments alarmed me, that he is supporting mining as a future in the area, wanting to have a new tailings facility built, and that he is supportive of mining under conservation land [The Waihi Leader May 24].