Cultural assessment for Te Mata Peak
marty.sharpe@stuff.co.nz
A cultural assessment is being undertaken by Hastings District Council to gain a ‘‘full understanding’’ of the local iwi’s perspective on the controversial Te Mata Peak track.
Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said the council, iwi, and Craggy Range Winery, which built the track, were ‘‘carefully assessing a number of options to find the best outcome for the eastern face of Te Mata Peak’’.
‘‘Whatever option we consider we must include cultural awareness, recreational access and environmental protection of this much-loved outstanding landscape,’’ she said.
The cultural assessment was ‘‘critical to the full understanding of Nga¯ti Kahungunu’s perspective’’, she said.
In December, following concern from the iwi and other groups, the winery agreed to remove the track, restore the land and return it to its previous owner.
An independent review of the council’s decision to allow the winery to cut the track found multiple issues were not thoroughly scrutinised. In particular, the peak’s importance to Nga¯ti Kahungunu was not fully considered before the council granted the winery consent to cut the track without notifying the public.
Earlier this month, the winery’s chief executive, Mike Wilding, said the track would no longer be removed as promised. He said a new report commissioned by the winery showed removing the track would not be an easy task. It outlined five options. Wilding favoured an option that would allow the track to remain with a section of the eastern slope to be rehabilitated into a natural habitat.
Nga¯ti Kahungunu chairman Ngahiwi Tomoana was furious at this backtrack and wrote to the winery asking for the iwi’s title on the winery opening’s commemorative plaque to be ‘‘melted or removed’’ if the Te Mata Peak track issue continued to be handled by barristers.
‘‘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,’’ Tomoana said.
Yesterday, Tomoana said the proposed audit was timely and would reveal what iwi had been concerned about from day one.