Tensions rising over Te Mata

The chairman of a Hawke’s Bay iwi has written a letter to Craggy Range Winery asking for the iwi’s title on the winery opening’s commemorative plaque be ‘‘melted or removed’’ if the Te Mata Peak track issue continues to be handled by barristers.

The open letter, dated May 14 and sent by Nga¯ ti Kahungunu’s Ngahiwi Tomoana to the winery’s director, Mary-Jeanne Hutchinson, said things had ‘‘gone downhill rapidly’’ since the pair last spoke.

‘‘The track has not only put a scar on our maunga but has driven a chasm in our community that has brought the worst of racist and class comments to the fore,’’ he wrote.

‘‘My people are the targets and dartboards of this racist oneway tirade emanating from Havelock North.’’

Tomoana had been asked to let things go, ‘‘but I have 1000 years of heritage to defend and this cannot be washed away by the very recent tsunami of residents with no sense of history’’.

‘‘A hundred horsemen on mountain bikes are threatening to swoop down Te Mata like a wolf on the fold, waving hundreds of thousands of legal dollars at us so that we should quiver in fear and hide.’’

Nga¯ti Kahungunu had won cases to protect their rights at the Privy Council, the United Nations and the Supreme Court, he said.

‘‘Your manager is caught in the headlights and doesn’t know his way forward but again he treats us like dumb savages from the wopwops.

‘‘Again we are not intimidated by this behaviour or that of the ‘charge of the lycra brigade’, who have resorted to personal attacks on our people who don’t have the luxury of mountain bikes mounted on the latest SUVs.’’

In December, the winery announced it would restore the land and remove the track, which was built after resource consent was granted without informing iwi or Hasting District councillors.

A report which the winery released last week outlining five options for the future of the track was ‘‘underwhelming and relegated your previous promise as disingenuous’’, Tomoana said.

‘‘If you leave it to your manager, barrister and director to manage then I respectively request that the name ‘Ngati Kahungunu’ be melted or removed from the commemorative opening plaque for I do not wish the gall and bile that has built up within the iwi to taint the fabulous wines and food you serve.’’

The letter comes after a protest was held on Saturday outside the winery by some Waimarama mana whenua, who felt the company had reneged on its promise.

Winery chief executive Mike Wilding said he did not think the protest was constructive ‘‘at all’’.

As the winery had presented iwi representatives and Hastings District Council with options, it was ‘‘now up to them to take the next step to move this forward’’.

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said it appeared that common ground could ‘‘still be reached with all parties’’.

‘‘I have 1000 years of heritage to defend.’’ Ngahiwi Tomoana wrote in his letter about the Te Mata Peak track issue.