Bid to reopen walkway after ‘ blackmail’ claim
The first negotiations to try to reopen one of Auckland’s most iconic walkways for summer were understood to be taking place yesterday, after the mayor levelled blackmail accusations last week.
The owners of the Paul Firth cottage recently closed access to the tens of thousands of walkers who pass through their private land each year while following the 2.5km TakapunaMilford coastal walk.
Former owner Firth had opened his land free of charge in 2011 after a public bridge washed away in front of the property.
The current owners earlier said they wanted to gift that slice of land to Auckland Council to be permanently used as part of the walkway, on condition the council removes a 2013 heritage listing placed over the cottage.
But when the council was slow to respond to their offer, they fenced off their property, forcing walkers to scamper over “dangerous” rocks or take a longer detour.
Mayor Wayne Brown last week lashed the closure as “blackmail”.
Alex Witten- Hannah, the lawyer representing the cottage owners, yesterday said the mayor’s comments were a “disgraceful” allegation.
He said his clients were set to meet a member of the DevonportTakapuna Local Board to try to kickstart new talks to open the walkway.
It comes after Auckland councillors last week voted to reject the property owner’s demands for the council to start the process of removing the cottage’s heritage listing.
Witten- Hannah told councillors if they said they would start the process, the fence would be down within days.
But Brown said it felt like the owners were trying to hold the council to “ransom”.
“It’s blackmail, isn’t it?” he said. “They are sitting on several million dollars worth of land, which is clearly what they want to get their hands on.”
“It i s not even remotely blackmail,” Witten- Hannah responded at the time.
“Blackmail is a criminal offence . . . It’s simply making Auckland Council sit up and take notice,” he said, pointing out the council had taken a year to reply to his letters.
“This is not the efficient council that you stand for, sir,” WittenHannah said to Brown.