The Maketu beach wall, challenged by Whakaue marae kuia Pia Kerr in 2005, is continuing to drive controversy in Maketu.

The Western Bay of Plenty District Council is carrying out maintenance on the wall which involves a digger in the estuary lifting stones from the beach and putting them on the sea wall.

A digger working on the wall in Maketu.

Maketu resident Raewyn Bennett says this contravenes the Bay of Plenty Coastal Environment Plan and the Coastal Policy statement.

'As if that's not bad enough, some of the stone belong on the beach and should have been touched because of their tapu nature, something the kuia spoke about in 2004-2006.” Raewyn says she is seeking legal advice about what she can do and will look at a civil case to prosecute the WBOPDC and BOPRC.

She says the Western Bay District Council has been bad for Maketu, now is the opportunity to seek to be incorporated with the Rotorua District Council under local government reforms.

'That maybe the way to go, because this Community Board and the Council cannot be trusted to do things with regard to tangata whenua issues in Maketu.

'That wall was a Maketu Community Board project and no doubt will continue to cause rates rises.”

Following a complaint to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council last week, council staff visited the site where the works were being carried out along Beach Road.

Senior pollution prevention officer John Morris says all parties were spoken to, including several Maketu elders, who said sacred rocks (pipi, tohanga, toka turua and toka parore) had not been removed or disturbed.

'They were generally pleased with the works, although they all agreed that the rock used to originally install the seawall was not suitable.

'The Regional Council appreciates the complainant contacting us when they saw the digger in the estuary. Their concerns were justifiable, as these types of activities usually resulted in disturbance of the seabed and could have serious environmental effects, especially in this area of the Maketu estuary.”

John adds early reporting of these types of activities gives Council an opportunity to get there quickly and talk with everyone involved and deal with it.

He says in this particular case Western Bay of Plenty District Council has a consent to deposit rock on the sea bed of the Maketu estuary adjacent to Beach Road, Maketu to form a seawall for the reclamation associated with the widening of Beach Road.

'This consent also allows for maintenance of the seawall. The works being undertaken was within their consent conditions and therefore did not contravene the Resource Management Act, although we will discuss with the District Council how this type of incident could be avoided in the future.”

Western Bay of Plenty District Council transportation manager Alex Finn says they are aware of the culture values associated with the estuary and have acted respectfully in their approach to the maintenance of the sea wall which protects Beach Road from the effects of marine action in the estuary.

'The maintenance of the sea wall is a requirement of the resource consent for the original construction and ongoing management of the sea wall, and the recent work give effect to that obligation.

'The use of the digger is the only practical and safe way of recovering, lifting and places rocks on the wall.”

Alex says the work on the wall is being carried out by a local contractor experienced in this type of work.

'We are aware of the assertion by a member of the community that the round boulders, as opposed to the broken quarry rock, that have also been recovered and placed on the wall, are tapu.

'We have also had conflicting advice from other respected elderly members of the community who recall the round boulders being used for the purpose of shore protection prior to the construction of the existing sea wall,” adds Alex.

'Out of respect for the individuals concerned we have where practical replaced the round boulders back on the seabed outside the boat channel. It should be noted that clearing of the boat channel is not included in the scope of works as it is not provided for in the consent.”