“Public Works Act Other Districts North Auckland
Notice Number
2025-ln970
- Take notice that the Auckland Council proposes to take under the provisions of section 23 of the Public Works Act 1981 the land described in the First Schedule to this notice (“Land”).
- The Land is required for cemetery purposes.
Reasons For Taking Land
- The reasons why Auckland Council considers it essential to take the Land are as follows:
- Waikumete Cemetery at 4128A Great North Road, Glen Eden is nearing its full capacity. Auckland Council has a statutory duty under the Burial and Cremation Act 1964 to establish and maintain a suitable cemetery where provision is not otherwise made for burial of bodies in the district.
- The Land has been identified and assessed as the most suitable site in the search area in the northwest of Auckland based on an options analysis undertaken by the Auckland Council.”
Obviously the owner of the Land and those persons with a registered interest in it who have been served with notice of Auckland Council’s intention to take the land and have been advised of their right to object, as well as any other person having the right to object.
It appears that not everyone who should have been told was informed. A 1News report on Tuesday 18 March titled “Opposition builds to land buy-up for new Auckland cemetery” explained that the proposed plan to compulsorily take 172 hectares of land under the Public Works Act for a new cemetery in Auckland was facing rising opposition from the landowner and local hapu.
Waikumete Cemetery in Glen Eden is at full capacity and Auckland Council is urgently working to find a new location for burials. The council team started the process for locating a new cemetery site in 2022. The sizeable land block in Waimauku was identified as the most suitable site, out of 45 considered, for land acquisition under the Public Works Act 1981.
The landowner told 1News the council wanted to take the best part of his farm where all the silage was made. He called the plan ill-considered and short-sighted and has taken his case to the Environment Court.
Luann Tapu, trustee of Whiti Te Ra o Reweti Marae, or Reweti Marae, said the land belonged to Te Taou prior to its confiscation. Their ancestral mountain was part of the proposed land block up for acquisition.
Marae chairman, David Mercer, said the lack of communication from the council was a source of consternation. The marae inadvertently found out through a social media post. “We received it in a way that was almost hard to believe, like all Facebook posts, and so it says something about the disregard for our role as kaitiaki, but also as tangata whenua, and as hapu within this area.
“It’s not something that’s far removed from us, it’s literally just across the tracks here.”
Taryn Crewe, Auckland Council’s parks and community facilities general manager, said the council’s mana whenua forum process was used to engage with Maori, but admits the council could have done better.
