HISTORY
The ‘Save Our Harbour’ action group was formed when the Whangarei District Council applied for resource consent in October 2008 to discharge quantities of raw untreated sewage into the Whangarei Harbour and waterways. These quantities related to the sum of 10 Olympic sized swimming pools of untreated raw sewage per day when needed.
While Jill Kahika was busy obtaining thousands of signatures on her petition opposing the resource consent and Pat and Warren Slater had published and were distributing to commercial identities bordering the Waiarohia stream which meanders through the town leaflets advising of the pending resource consent , Whangarei Alliance, a group of local hapu were planning a protest march to protect the harbour.
All factions joined forces in November 2008 and were joined by other citizens similarly unimpressed by the Whangarei District Council application to pollute the harbour.
At a meeting in November of the groups, it was decided that a positive spin rather than it being a protest march, hence ‘Save Our Harbour’ was initiated. Numerous meetings took place by the dedicated group who saw the harbour, that was unable to speak for itself, needed a voice.
Consents for the march were obtained and on Friday the 12th December 2008 the people, representing the harbour, had their say. The harbour was to be protected. The well behaved crowd in the march through central Whangarei at lunchtime was lead by a Scottish piper and drummer, a septic tank truck, boats and trailers and an estimated crowd of about 500-600. The march began at Laurie Hall Park, proceeded up Rathbone Street to Rust Avenue and on to outside the Whangarei District Council Library where a Public Meeting took place.
The meeting was facilitated by Hadyn Solomon. Guest speakers included Dr Jonathan Jarman, Medical Officer of Health Northland District Health Board, Dr Russel Norman co-leader of the Green Party, seven year old Chris Geerkens (media letter writter) and 14 year old Jiah Thomas (outrigger canoe world champion).
A petition of some 5500 signatures against the sewage discharges was presented by Jill Kahika to Whangarei mayor Stan Semenoff who also addressed the crowd. He was heckled and jeered at by a number in the crowd and failed to stay and listen to the remaining speeches or answer questions from the crowd as he had indicated. A number of the crowd came forward and voiced their concerns in a very orderly fashion and the public meeting concluded when organisers Willy Pohe and Warren Slater both made speeches representing the united Maori and Pakeha people.
A concert was then the focus for the group in Cafler Park by many local and visiting musicians. This was sadly delayed for approximately some 45 - 50 minutes whilst negotiations to restore the power to the event were undertaken with Council staff after the people in power had ordered it turned off on us. This action had initiated a group who wanted to go upstairs in Forum North to sort out the ones who had issued the instructions to cut the power. SOH management diffused the volatile situation.
The start of the mission to ‘Save Our Harbour’ had successfully begun.
'Do you ever get the feeling that the only reason we have elections is to find out if the polls were right?' ~ Robert Orben
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