Threat to burn Maketū Marae as Kāwhia landowners shut beach to vehicles

People backing a vehicle ban on a Kāwhia beach have been threatened, most recently with the burning of Maketū Marae, according to Daisy Horahaere Scott of Ngāti Hikairo and Ngāti Mahuta, speaking to Te Ao Māori News.

The marae sits on the northern shore of Kāwhia Harbour. Te Ao notes it is the resting place of the Tainui waka from Hawaiki.

"To threaten the destruction of our marae is very concerning," Scott told Te Ao. She said the threat had not changed anyone's mind: "Everyone was adamant that we will continue and not take these threats."

Te Ao reported the threats on Friday. Neither Te Ao nor RNZ says whether police have been told.

The Onepū Charitable Trust, which RNZ identifies as chaired by Scott, is closing the last gap in its barrier on Saturday, just as Labour Weekend visitors arrive. RNZ describes two-metre wooden poles running from the end of the Maketū marae seawall towards the low-tide mark. Half were already in when RNZ reported, with a gap left for cars. That gap closes from Saturday. Walkers and horse riders can still get through to the lagoon.

The trust says vehicles are wrecking a food source the hapū has relied on for generations. Scott told Te Ao that drivers have gone over pipi beds and got stuck in the sand, and some vehicles have been caught by the incoming tide and left in the water for two or three days.

Kaumātua Merv Ranga, 74, described the loss to RNZ. "We used to go and gather about a dozen sacks of pipi for the marae, and they're no longer there. They are dying."

Scott told RNZ that shorebirds nest around the lagoon dunes and that the lagoon is a vital spawning ground for fish, especially flounder. Rod Barnett of Te Taiao o Kāwhia Moana told RNZ that scientists had warned the kaimoana could recover only if left alone. He said the dotterel population is down to one or two birds.

"It's the few that are doing this damage, but we've got to make a stand," Scott told Te Ao.

Ōtorohanga District Council says part of that stand breaks its rules. Council manager Tony Quickfall told RNZ that landowners whose title runs into the foreshore can lawfully stop vehicles only above high tide. Posts below the tideline, he said, breach the council's Traffic Management Bylaw. The council asked the trust to remove those poles. According to RNZ, the trust said no.

Last year closure supporters petitioned the council to look at access from the Aotea end, through forestry land, Te Ao reported. The petition asked for that work to be done with the Tainui Kāwhia Incorporation. RNZ reported the trust is still waiting for an answer on an alternative route to Ocean Beach.

The two outlets give different figures for support. Scott told Te Ao more than 600 landowners back the closure; RNZ reported a petition with 600 signatures.

"We are just waiting for the backlash," Scott told RNZ.