The PM on Ihumātao
A reader writes in on an interview the PM did:
I have listened again to the interview Hosking did with Ardern, I concluded this
She is framing this that the land now has heritage status and so Fletchers are stuck and it is her job to help them out.
This needs to be challenged on a number of fronts
First she is ill informed. I do not believe the Council can slap this on a title and prevent already consented development or designation
Or she is lying and spinning this
Or the Council can do this and if that is the case every private land owner in NZ needs to know they have no security over their consented property use.
Her wording is a bit unclear but the two parts of the interview that are relevant are these.
“Fletchers currently the private land owner. This land has now been declared heritage land. What do we do for them? Now what do we do in that scenario? And that is the situation we are in, including the issues that have been raised by mana whenua”
So she is making out the mana whenua issue is a side issue and it is all about the heritage status.
Later on in interview
“ But there is a heritage overlay on this now, so Fletchers are stuck, what do you do?”
“Auckland Council place that heritage status on the unitary plan then that means a difference to whether the land can be developed”
Not sure what she is saying here, it sounds like she is saying that if they place the heritage status on the unitary plan it can’t be developed but they have not done so yet. Her wording is unclear but she previously implied strongly that the land can not be developed because of the heritage status but possibly saying now it is only if Council puts it on.
I don’t think she has a clue David and she speaks in a way that is unclear. She says Fletchers are stuck which clearly indicates that in her view they can not develop this land, but I believe she is mistaken or lying. If she shells out taxpayer money based on her incorrect view that is a problem.
Media should be following this up. Has the Auckland Council secretly changed the status of the land to heritage land? Can they do so legally? Or is the PM just making things up?