Tensions abate, occupiers talk with council

Tensions have begun to de-escalate at Shelly Bay, with the Mau Whenua occupation lowering their alert status to ā rani (amber), and starting talks again with Wellington City Council (WCC).

In a post on the occupation group’s Facebook page, the group said the decision was in everyone’s best interests, and they ‘‘believe that a step down will enable us to move back into preparation mode of the kaupapa as the whawhai [fight] is not over yet’’.

There has been increased tension at the site for the past few weeks, where a group of protesters – members of the iwi Taranaki Whānui known as Mau Whenua – have been occupying the land for the past year in protest of a proposed $500 million development by The Wellington Company (TWC). Two notices were served to Mau Whenua to vacate the land.

‘‘We are currently in de-escalation kō rero with WCC with the assurance from them that no enforcement action will be taken in the near future while discussions continue,’’ the post says.

A notice of motion, which stopped council staff from moving protestors away from a site with asbestos risk, was signed by Mayor Andy Foster, along with councillors Sean Rush, Sarah Free, Simon Woolf, Iona Pannett, Tamatha Paul and Laurie Foon. It was cited by the occupiers as the catalyst for these talks.

Rush said he was proud of the work he and his fellow councillors who signed the notice had done. He said Shelly Bay was ‘‘a very different place’’ yesterday afternoon – fewer people and less tension, and it was good that everyone was talking and a major incident had been averted, he said.

Mayor Foster last week apologised in a closed-door meeting for his role in signing this notice of motion, after it upset some staff and appeared to publicly undermine council chief executive Barbara McKerrow, reinforcing an already deep divide within the council over Shelly Bay.

Wellington City Council spokesman Richard McLean said in a statement: ‘‘Council officers have been working with Mau Whenua on a peaceful resolution for several months as new information has come to light regarding asbestos-related hazards as well as impending construction activity.’’