Open AccessThe Mounting Crisis at Ihumaatao
Author(s) -
Tim McCreanor,
Frances Hancock,
Nicola Short
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
counterfutures
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2463-5359
pISSN - 2463-5340
DOI - 10.26686/cf.v6i0.6386
Subject(s) - corporation , cultural heritage , natural heritage , court decision , business , political science , law , tourism
A recent Environment Court decision adds to more than 150 years of Court, Crown, and Council decision-making that alienates mana whenua from land they occupied for centuries and now puts Ihumaatao, a rare cultural heritage landscape near Auckland International Airport, at risk of permanent destruction. This latest Court decision gives transnational corporation Fletcher Building Limited, the current ‘landowners’, the green light to progress its inappropriately sited, low-density, high-cost housing development at Ihumaatao. Fletcher plans to build 480 dwellings on 32 hectares, using the fast-track, developer-friendly provisions of the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act 2013 (HASHA Act) to sideline mana whenua and community interests, as well as diminishing protections for our cultural and natural heritage.