Matai Moana, Mt Crawford, Stop the Sale

Matai Moana (Mt Crawford)

Kāti te hoko! Stop the sale!

These guys have started drilling!

More Maori Land Gone, Sold by our own.  No uri, whanau, hapu or iwi consultation.  

Stop the Sale whanau Sign the Petition

the link shows the work has started today.  Lets stand in solidarity. This is our Bastion Point in Poneke.  

https://www.facebook.com/messenger_media/?thread_id=1270009098&attachment_id=924868714912948&message_id=mid.%24cAABa9TZtpjiAqybzpF6eeGlyYWgu

The Taranaki Whānui Uri Working Group (UWG) are taking action against the forecasted selling of our maunga Matai Moana – otherwise known as Mt Crawford. The return of this maunga to manawhenua is a dream come true. Those Uri beneficiaries that want it fully retained in iwi ownership are extremely saddened to discover that some of our iwi leaders are all too willing to sell it all to the Wellington Company through developers Egmont Dixon. 

An OIA (attached) was discovered – on the internet – and forwarded to us, describing the confidential backroom deals that have happened recently. The Uri beneficiaries demand a say in what happens to CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT land such as Matai Moana. When it is sold it is gone – FOREVER. The UWG supported the sale of Shelly Bay, as a coastal retreat plan, by exchanging Shelly Bay with Matai Moana.  It seems that this agreement has not been upheld.  Our approach is grounded in Tikanga Maori.  Our whanaunga of Mau Whenua are fighting to hold the whenua of Omarukaikuru Shelly Bay as well.  

We demand the immediate RESIGNATION of any iwi leader that shows a willingness to sell our most sacred pieces of whenua. In our opinion, you are a willing party as a colonising agent against your own people. We will not name names here, they are clearly visible in the print of the OIA (link). Ihumātao was about an unacceptable 200 metre buffer zone between the stone fields and urban development. Matai Moana has FOUR PĀ SITES nearby, one of which is over 600 years old - Puhirangi pā – on the boundary of the prison site. The other three are less than 400 metres from the prison site. The Wellington Company aims to build 300 homes on Mataimoana, on the doorstep of these ancient pā sites. They will be blight on the peak of our maunga. These homes will only be accessible to the very wealthy. They will not be affordable. We reject being alienated from our land again.

We know Taranaki Whanui Limited commercial board – buy an RFR property and on-sell it within moments on the same day. We know they have a constitution that allows them to sell land blocks of a specific size, ‘without having to ask the people,’ who are the real owners of these lands and assets. This is not tikanga. It is unacceptable.

We ask that all of our Uri beneficiaries of Taranaki Whānui, and whanaunga from other iwi Māori that want Matai Moana (Mt Crawford) to be retained in Iwi ownership, to please sign this petition. The Wellington Company were sold Shelly Bay for a below-average price, and the owner will benefit from it. Now is our time to fully reclaim our manawhenua of Motukairangi by establishing a cultural marae complex at the front gate to the future Motukairangi Urban Park, on Matai Moana. Matai Moana contains the genesis of iwi Māori occupation from the days of Tara Ika 700 years ago. As Manawhenua we have the right to welcome our manuhiri to the Motukairangi Urban Park through the lens of the first nations indigenous people of Aotearoa, on this site of spiritual and national significance.

link to OIA which we found on the internet:

https://www.hud.govt.nzOIA - Email comms with Crown, Lisle, Earl for Development of Mt Crawford area from Feb 2020/assets/News-and-Resources/Proactive-Releases/OIA-response-DOIA20/21100458-Potential-housing-development-at-Mount-Crawford.pdf

Drilling Today.  

https://www.facebook.com/messenger_media/?thread_id=1270009098&attachment_id=924868714912948&message_id=mid.%24cAABa9TZtpjiAqybzpF6eeGlyYWgu

Marama Puketapu - Taranaki Whanui Uri Working Group (UWG)    Contact the author of the petition