Puketiti Update
Puketiti occupation status.
The occupation became busy again on March 16th 2022. A tractor with a slasher arrived on site and spent some time slashing vegetation. A metal fence was put up and a security man set up base in a red bus to look after the fence day and night.
Many members of the community and local hapu descended peacefully on the occupation site on the morning of March 17th 2022 and eventually the workers all left.
Just to make it clear, FNHL are the project managers of this development site.
Since then, the hapu have purchased a small shed and placed it on top of the hill. It is very warm and cosy. A short time after the shed was put up, a hiab truck arrived at the site gates to remove the shed. Fortunately, the occupiers had a vehicle parked in the way and after 2 hours the hiab truck drove away.
Following this, three fencing contractors turned up on site with their post hole borers preparing to put up a permanent fence. All three contractors were peacefully persuaded to leave. This was a big deal for some of the contractors because it was a loss of work.
Following this, many of the service men arrived and left. Then a young woman from Regional Council turned up and was surprised to see the occupation set up. She thought the place was empty. This woman was the resource consent manager!
Since this time, Puketiti has been very quiet. The police do not appear to want to get involved. Tony Williams from Te Roroa has started the process to turn Puketiti into a wahi tapu site adding another layer of protection.
I have set up a petition called 'FNHL and FNDC Buy back Puketiti'. The link to the petition is enclosed below. The wonderful video made by Sam Romeyn has been revamped. This petition will eventually be sent to Council, FNHL and journalists. If anybody has difficulty signing online, there will be a copy that you can sign at Puketiti.
Cheers,
Paula Beck, local resident, occupier and member of SOS.