This morning, Ilena spoke to Shirley Waru, leader of the grassroots group ‘Respect Mt Richmond/Ōtāhuhu’, about the planned felling of hundreds of exotic trees on the maunga.
Auckland Council recently issued a non-notified resource consent to allow Tūpuna Maunga Authority to fell hundreds of exotic trees there. The current resource consent is for felling 278 of the maunga’s 443 exotic trees, but the Authority intends to fell all exotics in time – which comprises 75% of the maunga’s entire tree cover. The plan is to replace these exotic trees with native plants, but, according to Shirley, this could mean that swathes of forest could simply be replaced by low-lying flax and shrubs, rather than comparable native trees. Similar plans are happening around Auckland’s volcanic cones, and there has already been an occupation at Mt Albert/Owairaka.
Shirley talks about her engagement with the issue, what alternatives she proposes and why this felling should be reconsidered.
Amelia is joined by Che aka bb gurl aka Mallshopper for a conclusive list of the best of the best anime of all time PERIOD. But none of that Shonen nonsense - the good stuff.
Tina Ngata of Ngati Porou is an indigenous and environmental rights advocate. Recently she posted an open letter to Jason Momoa regarding his apology for the joke about rape he made at a Game of Thrones press event in light of the MeToo campaign. Ngata welcomes his apology, but critiques they way statements like these attempt to shut a conversation down, and the way others continue to shut the conversation down once people have apologised instead of continuing to the point where these issues are put on the table and people are made uncomfortable and held accountable for these issues. So Lillian Hanly and Tina had a conversation about it. They also bring the discussions back home to discuss Once Were Warriors and the new film in cinemas called Waru that deals with child abuse.
This week, Ilena and Shane talk about what moving into level three means for Auckland, and in particular, how level 3 does not mean ‘level free’. They talk about varying levels of compliance and enforcement in different suburbs and how we can ‘support local’ safely during this time.
They also addressed the felling of hundreds of non-native trees at Ōtāhuhu, following up on Ilena’s previous conversation with Shirley Waru. Shane outlined the scope of Auckland Council’s influence on the matter, and gave insight into the consultation process.
Disclaimer:
After the interview with Shane, Shirley Waru, the organiser of Protect Mt Richmond/Ōtāhuhu, had some clarifications on some of Cr. Henderson's points:
Cr. Henderson implied that Auckland Council has no say in Tupuna Maunga Authority’s work. He did not mention that the Authority is a co-governance organisation. It has six iwi representatives and six Auckland Council representatives (who, under the Treaty settlement legislation are there to represent “all the people of Auckland”). The Authority is a ratepayer-funded entity. Every year, Auckland Council’s governing body considers the Authority’s annual operational plan and votes on the budget. In other words, Auckland Council does have some say on what the Authority does.
He said that the public were consulted about the tree removal in both the Authority’s 2016 integrated management plan consultations and operational plan consultations. The Authority never specifically consulted about its intentions to remove all the exotic trees from all of Auckland’s maunga. The Authority’s chairman admits this in a Māori TV interview earlier this year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDrCMAhL4tk&list=PLvwPLhmfEWgk8wZyFXdCLKV871TFlO1FN&index=4. The Authority has consulted in recent years on its operational plan, but, on the whole, ignored public input.
Cr. Henderson said that only some of the exotic trees will be removed from Mt Richmond. Yes, not all exotic trees will be removed under this particular resource consent, but supporting documentation clearly shows they intend to remove all of them in time. Protect Mt Richmond/Ōtāhuhu believes they split the removal process in two so as to get a non-notified resource consent through.
Cr. Henderson also says that tens of thousands of native plants are being planted in exotic trees' places. However, this is misleading: these are mostly small plants like flaxes, grasses and shrubs and not tree species, meaning that places that previously had tree cover would look very bare, covered with small plants rather than trees.
Today on your bFM Breakfast: as Winston steps up, Dr. Bryce gives us the low-down; Troy wants to sway Mikey's feelings about sax - all the while discussing the important stuff a.k.a Crash Bandicoot or Sonic the Hedgehog; and, oh yeah, best wishes to the PM on this exciting day - Jacinda's in Labour! (sorry.)
Group culture is one of the most powerful forces on the planet and it starts with belonging - you are safe, you are valued. Safety is not mere emotional weather but rather the foundation on which strong culture is built. We are curious about what everybody has to say.
~ universal harmony ~
A soundtrack for creative minds and people who spread happiness in a confronting way.
95bFM 