A small but significant group of passionate locals and mana whenua have stalled a multimillion-dollar development in the Bay of Islands for two years.

The protesters don’t want the 16-lot development to go ahead on the headland, known as Puketītī – one of the last green spaces in Ōpua.

Instead, they want Far North District Council and its commercial arm, Far North Holdings, to buy the land back off its private owner, saying the deal was done in secrecy without community input.

The organisations previously denied any wrongdoing but both they, and the property’s new owner Dong Guo​, now refuse to respond to the protesters’ accusations.

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At the heart of the dispute is a 2018 press release from Far North Holdings, which invited feedback on the company’s resource consent application.

No feedback was received, but the protesters say the release did not say the land was due to be sold to a developer, and Far North Holdings did not engage with Treaty of Waitangi claimants nor nearby Ōpua School, which uses the land for parking.

While their demands for a buy-back have yet to be met, the protesters have successfully stopped development of the Kellet St site since October 2020, thanks to the small-scale occupation and support of the community.

Local resident Paula Beck​ said when a Hiab truck arrived to take away the protesters’ hut in April 2022, she was able to convince the truck driver that 100 residents would turn up if he made a move.

The same tactics have worked on three separate fencing contractors, hired this year to try and put up permanent fencing.

“The fact that we’re a small community has made us more powerful, because we can come together,” said Beck, who has lived in Ōpua since 2012.

This is her first occupation, but Beck uses her daily visits to the site to paint signs, garden and learn more about her neighbours, including learning Māori history and correct Te Reo Māori pronunciation.

“This is a story of co-operation, but also a story of strength and resistance – of people coming together in the community.”

She is confident the community can win the fight, and says she is prepared to stay as long as it takes.

Anthony “Koots” Williams​ (Te Roroa ki Ōpua) said he was inspired by the occupation of Ihumātao in south Auckland, which resulted in land being bought by the Government.

He is fighting to secure the maunga for future generations, including the uri (descendants) of his ancestor Pumuka​, potentially for the likes of housing, he said.

“Why I’m passionate to be here is because they [Far North Holdings] have done the wrong thing.”

Williams is so passionate about the cause, he recently sold his house in Moerewa, and plans for him and his wife to live on whānau land in Ōpua – allowing him to visit the site more often than his weekend stays.

For 79-year-old Maiki Marks​ (Ngāpuhi), her reason for regular site visits dates back to 1975, when Dame Whina Cooper led a land march from the Far North to parliament, urging “not one more acre” of land to be taken from Māori.

Four Ngāpuhi hapū have Treaty of Waitangi claims on Ōpua land – Te Roroa ki Ōpua, Ngāti Hine, Te Kapotai and Ngāti Manu – but while the claims were lodged in 1988, not one has been settled, she said.

“It gives a lie to Whina Cooper’s land march … Here we have in 2019, this land was sold without consultation with mana whenua or with the treaty claimants; I think that’s disgraceful.”

Ninety-six-year-old neighbour Dorothy Bateman​, who visits the site regularly, is grateful so many people have taken an interest in the development.

“It’s only going to affect not only me but everyone in Ōpua, especially the school, with the heavy trucks and everything else that would be involved.”

The protest has seen some ups and downs in the last two years, including Covid-19 lockdowns.

Tony “Tone” Harris lived some of his last days at Puketītī, in a tent once owned by Beck’s late father, until he was hospitalised and died in August 2021.

After his death, Far North Holdings put up a temporary fence around the land and installed a security guard to ensure the fence was not breached, Beck said.

Both the security guard and the protesters now occupy public land just next to Puketītī, in what is a peaceful impasse.

But Marks said the protest was very much alive, shown with more than 500 signatures on a petition delivered in August, urging the council and Far North Holdings to buy Puketītī back.

Stuff questioned Far North Holdings and owner Guo for a response – including how engagement was meaningful and what the plans are now – but neither responded.

Council chief executive Blair King said the land sale did not need Overseas Investment Office involvement because it was not to an overseas buyer, and the council was not invited to any meeting with community groups, tangata whenua and Far North Holdings, as suggested in 2021 by MP Kelvin Davis.

The council did not answer questions about how the money from the land sale was used, what oversight the council provided into consultation, how the council plans to respond to the petition, or what it will do now about the development.