\u201cWe have no choice but to be here,\u201d said hap\u016b representative Craig Ahipene.<\/p>\n
He said the proposed development ignored the cultural significance of the land.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur people lived here for generations \u2013 and we believe they are still here.”<\/p>\n
\u2018Not just houses on a hill\u2019<\/p>\n
The lake takes its name from Te Whakamarumarutanga o Kahukeke \u2013 a shelter built by the ancestor Rakat\u0101ura \u2013 a reminder, Ahipene said, that this is not just water, but w\u0101hi tapu (a sacred place).<\/p>\n
Before the river was dammed in the 1950s and the area flooded to create the Whakamaru Lake and Hydro Scheme, the area was dotted with k\u0101inga (villages), and served as a key route along the Waikato River basin, Ahipene said.<\/p>\n
There were also \u201cburials\u201d underneath the man-made lake, he said.<\/p>\n
Ahipene said environmental reshaping of the river over generations \u2013 from hydro schemes to suburban sprawl \u2013 had continually pushed aside the rights, responsibilities, and voices of mana whenua.<\/p>\n
He said cultural responsibilities could not be sidelined in favour of development pressures.<\/p>\n
Lake Whakamaru in South Waikato. Photo \/ Tom Eley<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just houses on a hill. This is our history \u2013 and all it takes is one drop [of wastewater] to enter the lake [to disturb our ancestors].\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahipene said the hap\u016b needed to take up this fight and protest because it felt a responsibility to protect the lake.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we did nothing at all, it\u2019s on us. This is what we have to do … We [would] let down our people and future generations if we don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the protest, Ahipene is joined by his sister, Jacinta Rata, who said all the resources for the land occupation, like food and tents, had come out of the hap\u016b\u2019s own pocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a small, small price.\u201d<\/p>\n
What the developer says<\/p>\n
Quigley said he acquired the parcel of land, formerly used for forestry, after it remained unsold for a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one has touched it. No one wanted it. So we purchased it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lake Whakamaru was created when the dam was built in the 1950s. Photo\/ Tom Eley<\/p>\n
He lodged the application for the rezoning with the South Waikato District Council in 2023.<\/p>\n
Hearings took place in November this year due to \u201cprocedural delays\u201d on the applicant\u2019s side, the council said.<\/p>\n
Quigley said the land had been in private ownership for a long time, so he was confused why the issue around cultural significance had only come up now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe documents show the land was used for the forestry industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least, from 1932 it\u2019s been in private ownership.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quigley said he knew he was looking at the development \u201cfrom a white man\u2019s perspective\u201d but was not \u201cbelittling\u201d the cultural significance of the area.<\/p>\n
He said he had worked with Raukawa Charitable Trust on this for the past three years.<\/p>\n
The Ng\u0101ti Te Kohera flag flies over the land occupation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey brought in hap\u016b members that they felt were relevant to the development, in their opinion, and that wasn\u2019t for us to argue, decide or choose.\u201d<\/p>\n
There had been no contact with the iwi group after public council submissions closed in May 2025, he said.<\/p>\n
Quigley said he appreciated Ng\u0101ti Te Kohera\u2019s emotional and spiritual attachment to the land.<\/p>\n
The developer said he had gone to significant lengths to ensure concerns about wastewater run-off were mitigated by new water treatment technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what we are proposing, but it\u2019s still not enough [for the hap\u016b].\u201d<\/p>\n
The hap\u016b also expressed concerns about the lake being on the flight path of the long-tailed bat, but Quigley said an expert had assessed the area for environmental impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cLegal documents … show that that\u2019s simply not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said any construction would ensure that cultural and environmental concerns were addressed.<\/p>\n
Developer Johnathan Quigley is proposing a 66-home development at Lake Whakamaru in South Waikato.<\/p>\n
Quigley also said he was committed to planting more new trees than the law required.<\/p>\n
\u201cBest practice is planting 10% of the land in ecological planting, and we are proposing 28%.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quigley said the development would not restrict access to the campground, and the pre-existing private road entrance would be shifted \u201cso that in perpetuity there is public access\u201d.<\/p>\n
An additional parcel of \u201cprime real estate\u201d would be put aside for camping grounds and ecological reasons, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn collaboration with Waikato River Trails Trust, [we will] build a new section of river trail and give that land to them so they have a permanent section there that connects up.\u201d<\/p>\n
What the council says<\/p>\n
The South Waikato District Council said in a statement that it was aware of the occupation and it was speaking with Raukawa, the iwi who carry \u201cmana and responsibility for the hap\u016b\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a council, we understand the cultural sensitivity required on this matter and are subsequently working with Raukawa as the appropriate conduit to the occupation group,\u201d council chief executive Susan Law said.<\/p>\n
Law said it was \u201ccritical\u201d that Raukawa lead this k\u014drero with their hap\u016b.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am pleased to say that our discussions and interactions with Ng\u0101ti Te Kohera to date have been respectful and co-operative across the board.\u201d<\/p>\n
While a bylaw prohibits uncontained fires at the site, the council granted a temporary exemption for the group to acknowledge the cultural custom of keeping a fire (ahi k\u0101) going at the site.<\/p>\n
This temporary exemption did not extend to other open fires.<\/p>\n
The public continued to have access to the reserve and its amenities throughout the occupation.<\/p>\n
Tom Eley is a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. He previously worked for the Weekend Sun and Sunlive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe have no choice but to be here,\u201d said hap\u016b representative Craig Ahipene. He said the proposed development…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159691,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[105199,31047,1770,8996,170,105200,28164,87070,82457,85543,1861,3339,78,105197,13207,111,43,139,32141,69,105198,1523,2170,29056,10665,312,1240,8690,1524,105196,1533],"class_list":["post-159690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-66home","tag-beneath","tag-concrete","tag-consent","tag-development","tag-drown","tag-fears","tag-forms","tag-hap","tag-haps","tag-history","tag-housing","tag-in","tag-kohera","tag-lake","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-ngti","tag-nz","tag-occupies","tag-over","tag-plan","tag-proposed","tag-reserve","tag-says","tag-south","tag-te","tag-waikato","tag-whakamaru","tag-will"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}