Cape Brett, Oke Bay Lodge, and Julian Batchelor:

Te komiti o te Kaitiaki o Opourua spokesperson Katherine Paaka Raue was recently interviewed by Dale Husband on Irirangi Waatea regarding the situation between Auckland property developer Julian Batchelor, the Far North District Council, and the local hapu and tangata whenua at Hauai and Opourua in Ipipiri, and Julian Batchelor's plans for land he occupies - and a lot of other land, all the way on out to Rakaumangamanga in fact.

Julian Batchelor seems to have laid claim to "Cape Brett", by way of claim to intellectual property which he doesn't own, and by way of taking liberties regarding the publication of information which is seriously questionable - not least being the claim that the land is owned by a charitable religious "trust" when in fact it is owned by a limited liability company which is controlled exclusively by Julian Batchelor.

Batchelor's plans include an "international evangelisation centre" based on the property he currently occupies and a wide ranging a large scale commercial enterprise which exploits the local tangata whenua and their taonga for the exclusive benefit of Julian Batchelor, and the tangata whenua have had enough.

Evidence of the pollution to the sea caused by run off from Mr Batchelor's unlawful and unconsented 'works'

Te komiti o te Kaitiaki o Opourua insisted that the Far North District Council issue a stop work notice to Julian Batchelor immediately following confirmation of the fact that Batchelor's 'work' was unconsented and in breach of the law.  Since then problems have escalated, with Batchelor initiating physical confrontations with users of the track up to our wahi tapu, Batchelor then makes complaints to Police in an attempt to 'establish a pattern of being a victim' - he lacks any insight into the fact that he's the perpetrator not the victim, and further serious environmental destruction caused by the run off of rainwater and overflow of storm water from the property Batchelor occupies - due to his illegal and unconsented 'works'.

The interview is at this link.

More trouble for Julian Batchelor - under investigation for possible damage to archaeological heritage sites:

Te komiti o te Kaitiaki o Opourua received information this afternoon that Heritage New Zealand are investigating possible damage to archaeological heritage sites on the land Julian Batchelor is occupying at Rawhiti.

On top of all his other problems, Batchelor now has to pay to have an archaeological report undertaken, and faces having the book thrown at him if he has damaged the ancestral wahi tapu.

Julian and 'the team'

Julian Batchelor spreads teka kaka on te wahi tapu o Opourua.

Te komiti o te Kaitiaki o Opourua are looking forward to viewing the information held by the FNDC and Julian Batchelor regarding the plumbing at his 'Oke Bay Lodge'.  Locals are less than impressed by Mr Batchelor's project management of the developments at Rawhiti in the breathtakingly beautiful Ipipiri (often referred to by visitors as the Bay of Islands).

The crucial criteria Julian Batchelor requires from the engineer apparently consists of the following:

• Be a Christian
• Be retired
• Be prepared to work for no pay

 Julian sees himself not so much as a real estate agent, but more as a knight in shining armour, ready to save the world and evangelise every one of the (supposedly) heathen savages of the land and anyone else who ventures forth on the 'Cape Brett Track' and everyone in the near vicinity in fact, and nothing is beyond his superman capabilities, even plumbing and building retaining walls, let alone being God's spokesperson.  His God will provide and all will be well, Mr Batchelor knows what he's talking about; according to him.

Of course it helps to attract the simple minded and gullible if you tell them that the land is owned by a Christian Charity - a "trust". 

Instead of telling them the truth.  The land is Maori land.  It has always been Maori land, owned by Ngati Kuta.  It is one of our most sacred and precious wahi tapu.  The bones of our great grandparents lie on that land.  Mr Batchelor has demonstrated nothing but contempt for the tangata whenua, and nothing but contempt for the law.

Locals witnessed and recorded the ongoing saga of Julian Batchelor's handiwork.  In detail, unfortunately for Mr Batchelor. 

This is an easterly facing view of Mr Batchelor's deck - the road and sea are behind the photographer.

This is the same deck.  Beneath it can clearly be seen a pipe or hose underneath the deck.

If the image above is opened in any reasonable image viewing software and enlarged, the pipe or hose under the deck can be clearly seen.  It disappears into the fill behind the original retaining wall, right above where the wall collapsed.  And right above where the road collapsed too.  

This is the same area shown in this video:

Other pipes on the property were also leaking, including what several 'guests' and witnesses described as "raw sewage flowing down the driveway".

'Guests' staying at Julian Batchelor's lodge witnessed (and photographed) raw sewage flowing down the driveway of Julian's 'Oke Bay Lodge.  Julian charges $5000 for the pleasure of watching sewage flow down the driveway, over our land, our sacred wahi tapu.

Julian Batchelor may care to reflect on the fact that there may well be serious consequences resulting from his actions.

Retaining wall collapses, road falls into the sea and more trees cut down:

This is the situation on the property in September when the komiti began actively recording the damage and looking into the situation regarding Mr Julian Batchelor's resource consents.  The retaining wall collapsed, several kauri trees and other vegetation had been removed and this was just the beginning of what was to come.

The road also collapsed into the sea directly in front of Julian Batchelor's collapsed retaining wall at the same time.

During the next six weeks or so Mr Batchelor - a real estate agent who knows the rules but chooses to ignore them, went ahead with further major works without consent from the Far North District Council, without consulting hapu or iwi, and in breach of the bylaws.

Formal application for stop work notice to be served on Julian Batchelor:

Te komiti o nga Kaitiaki o Opourua me Araaka me Hauai have requested that the Far North District Council issue Julian Batchelor with a Stop Work Notice and Abatement Notice and ensure that he ceases the works and developments he is carrying out on the property at 147 Rawhiti Road at Hauai because of serious damage to the surrounding environment and the effect of this damage on the local people, as well as breaches of Far North District Council bylaws.

Above is an image on Mr Julian Batchelor's slick website, this is one example of the scope of Mr Batchelor's plans for not only the land he occupies, which is under Treaty claim and should have been returned to iwi by the former occupier as Mr Batchelor is well aware, but his plans to control access to and exclusive use of everything in sight including the track to Rakaumangamanga which currently under Department of Conservation management.  Mr Julian Batchelor has also taken the liberty of renaming everything in sight too, including our maunga tapu Rakaumangamanga (which he and others refer to as "Cape Brett"), our moana, Opourua, which he (and others) have renamed "Oke Bay", among other taonga and cultural heritage.  Not only is this disrespectful in the extreme, it would seem to be illegal.  The recent earthworks certainly are.