Ngāti Kahu o Torongare spokeswoman Nicki Wakefield and kaumatua Richard Shepherd, with Onoke Pā in the distance.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

In the comedy movie Groundhog Day, actor Bill Murray is trapped in an endless time loop, forcing him to relive the same day over and over again.

Now members of a Whangārei hapū feel like they’re trapped in their own, real-life version of Groundhog Day.

In 1996 the hapū went to the Environment Court to stop a subdivision on land next to Onoke Pā, in Te Kamo, which they say is wāhi tapu, or sacred.

The hapū won – but on Monday, Ngāti Kahu o Torongare and Te Parawhau will be back in the Environment Court, appealing a decision to allow a subdivision on exactly the same piece of land.

Ngāti Kahu o Torongare spokeswoman Nicki Wakefield said the hapū had been forced back to court to argue the same case as almost 30 years ago.

“In the ’90s, our kaumātua worked really hard. They appealed a council decision, and they went all the way to the Environment Court who supported that the place has cultural values that really should be left as a tapu.

“So between now and then, what happened? Why didn’t their protection remain? And why did decision-makers think that didn’t matter and they could approve another subdivision?”

Despite the earlier court ruling, in 2018 the almost seven-hectare site, next to Dip Road on the edge of Te Kamo, was zoned residential.

When Onoke Heights Limited applied in 2023 to build 93 homes on the land, a Whangārei District Council planner recommended against it – but the decision went to an independent commissioner, who ruled it could go ahead.

The commissioner said Māori connection to the site, unlike the neighbouring Onoke Pā (which is protected by a hilltop reserve), was not clear.

Ngāti Kahu o Torongare kaumatua Richard Shepherd, however, disagreed.

“The reason that this area was tapu is because of the wars that were being fought. The dead bodies were brought back there. And another story is that the afterbirth of all the chiefs of Ngāti Kahu o Torongare are buried here. So how could it not be tapu?”

A billboard beside the Onoke Heights housing development site.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Shepherd said the site’s significance was well-known, so the decision to allow the subdivision came as a surprise.

“It’s frustrating to come back and go through a process that happened in the 90s, because everybody knows the history of this particular place, and we have to tell it over and over and over again. And that’s the frustrating part of it.”

Wakefield said there were many other developments underway in sensitive areas around the district.

“And because the Whangarei District Council has not sufficiently scheduled the sites and areas of significance for the hapū of Whangārei [in the District Plan], everyone is missing that information when they’re planning what to do with the whenua.”

The result was more cost and stress for the hapū, she said.

“It’s expensive to go to Environment Court. We can’t do this too often. It costs us a lot of time, but also money. We’re not a big iwi, we’re just small hapū in Whangārei.”

The hapū could have an unexpected ally in the developer, who said he had been blindsided by claims of the site’s wāhi tapu status.

Onoke Pā looms over the main street in Te Kamo.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Onoke Heights director Philip Leather could not be contacted last week, but earlier this year told the Northern Advocate the council had assured him he could build on the land.

The first he knew of any problem was when the council decided to publicly notify his resource consent application and appoint an independent commissioner – steps that were not usually required when building a residential development on residential-zoned land.

Leather told the Advocate his company had a good relationship with hapū around the country, and did not want to build on land if it was found to be wāhi tapu.

“The council should buy the land … rather than throwing us to the lions,” he said.

As for the hapū, Wakefield hoped they never had to fight the same battle again.

“It’s costing our hapū a lot of pūtea (money) and time and heartache, and we really want to avoid this in the future. We’re looking for long-term protection for Onoke so that a future generation doesn’t have to go through this like we are.”

In September, the Environment Court heard four days of evidence, including from the hapū.

The case will resume on Monday in the Māori Land Court premises on Rathbone Street, and is expected to wrap up on Tuesday after the developer’s cultural experts have presented their evidence.

A sign on a private property near Onoke Pā.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Whangārei District Council did not wish to comment while the matter was still before the Environment Court.

However, in a statement provided earlier this year, a council spokesperson said the Onoke Block had been rezoned from rural to residential during the 2014-18 rural plan change process.

That involved formal consultation, with the draft plan changes advertised to all plan holders and iwi contacts, and made available for public feedback.

The new zoning came into effect in July 2018.

The Onoke Block was not identified as a site of significance in the Whangārei District Plan, so it was unlikely that had been considered during the plan change process.

The council had since started a review of its District Plan.

“There are known gaps in the current District Plan schedule of sites of significance to Māori that this review will be looking to address,” the spokesperson said.

The council said it had no plans or funding to buy the land.

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