TARANAKI UNDER THREAT

Kaea, Issue 5, 1 February 1981, Page 4

TARANAKI UNDER THREAT

Taranaki, the scene of so much strife in the past, is again in turmoil. The New Plymouth City Council plans to dispose of the city’s domestic sewerage and industrial waste through a long sea outfall which would go over the Rewarewa reef at the mouth of the Waiwakaiho River. The big developments in Taranaki today all too often appear to be leaving the people behind, but a group of Maori people have got together to make sure that their voice is heard.

The Taranaki Clean Sea Action Group was formed in 1979, shortly after a Planning Tribunal hearing of water rights was held in the Bell Block Hotel, New Plymouth. Although uninvited, a group of Taranaki Maori attended. The group included Percy Tamati (Chairman of the Taranaki Trust Board) Sally Karena, Neta Wharehoka, Majorie Rau (Parihaka), Ivy Papakura, Tuti Wetere (Waiwakaiho), Alia Taylor, Teddy Tamati, Kath Rangi, May Oorthius (Puketapu), Maria Tippins (Maori Affairs), Charles Bailey (Maori Council), Vera Bezems (Otaraoa), and the Rev. Moke Couch. As they had not made a formal submission the lawyer acting for the city council asked that they be removed. The chairman felt, however, that they had a perfect right to be there and on the last day of the hearing they were permitted to make submissions. They felt that the effect of the pollution from the outfall concerned not only the Rewarewa area but also the whole of the Taranaki coastline. With on-shore winds and currents the

sea will inevitably return to the land what was dumped into it, and a whole series of traditional kawa will be jeopardised by the proposed outfall. The Rewarewa reef at the mouth of the Waiwakaiho River has long been an important kawa. At one time the Rewarewa Pa is said to have had a population of two and a half thousand people. The kawa provides crayfish, pipi, paua, pupu, edible seaweed, rorei, wheke, kotoretore, as well as the green-lipped mussel used for medicinal purposes. The Waiwakaiho River has whitebait, lamprey, eels, crayfish, mountain trout, mullet and herring.

The land surrounding and including the Rewarewa Pa was taken under proclamation in 1905, for defence purposes. It is now used as a rifle range and as part of a golf course. As well as the Waiwakaiho reef and the larger Rewarewa reef used by the Ngati Te Whiti hapu, other areas threatened are the Mangati reef and the Waiongona reef to the north. The Puketapu reef, the Kunene reef and the Otira reef are all within the Waionga area and traditionally the kawa of the Puketapu hapu. Further along the coast are the Tuaranga reef and the Orapapa reef, the kawa of the Ngati Kura hapu, and so to the mouth of the Waitara River. North of this is the Taioma reef used by the Manukorihi and Otaraoa hapu. Next is the Titirangi reef associated with part of the Ngati Rahiri hapu. Along the coast is the Waiau reef and the Onaero reef, the area of Ngati Tu. (The coastline in this area is the likely site of the Mobil synthetic fuel plant.) From Onaero through to Urenui and the white cliffs is the area of the Ngati Tama and the Ngati Timutu hapu. All these “well-stocked storehouses” are threatened.

The effects of an outfall have already been experienced

along the coast. At present there is a sewage outlet for the town of Waitara that goes over the Orapapa and Taioma reefs. Since its inception in 1978 it has never been a satisfactory means of disposal, in fact it has been broken since April of last year and attempts to repair it have been unsuccessful. A survey made of 185 families in the area shows that they are unwilling to gather shellfish from the reefs unless they are given assurances from health authorities that they are not contaminated. No such assurances have been given.

The Taranaki Clean Sea Action Group’s primary aim is to stop the planned outfall, and it has met with some success. In June of last year the group obtained over 9,000 signatures opposing the granting of a loan to the city council for the long sea outfall. Not content merely to have their opposition felt they also put forward candidates for the local body elections. As a result Teddy Tamati is now on the Taranaki County Council and Alia Taylor and Ted Maha are on the Waitara Borough Council.

In July a deputation met with representatives of the Ombudsman to express their concern over the future of the reefs and the manner in which the whole issue had proceeded. The representatives seemed impressed with the submissions but said that much work would have to be done

on the whole issue and that they would look into it. The group is still waiting to hear from them.

The group was often criticised for not having an alternative to the long sea outfall but in September they presented two land-based treatment plants as a viable alternative. For a very small increase in the rate rise already planned for the long sea outlet, the people of New Plymouth would have their waste effectively dealt with while still preserving the coastline. Hopes are high for the acceptance of this proposal, especially with the change-around in the council.

Unfortunately the group’s work does not end there as problems associated with the large petro-chemical industries planned for the Taranaki area have not even been considered. The plants will have an enormous effect on the lives and environment of the people and the group insists that the people must know what is going on and what the true effects will be to the environment.

The Taranaki Clean Sea Action Group view the sea as an integral part of the Maori heritage and like many other aspects of that heritage it is fast being eroded away. They call for the preservation of an essential element of life clean water. They hope that the Treaty of Waitangi which guarantees the preservation of their natural resources, in this case their kawa, will be honoured.