"It's an insult to suggest that tribes would charge to use beaches!" 15 October 2010

Pita Sharples Co-leader of the Maori Party has the words 'Northland hapu want to charge commercial users of "their" beach' across his upper lip as a moustache. He says heatedly 'It is an insult to suggest tribes would charge to use beaches!' Takou Bay is a prime candidate for customary title once the Government repeals the Foreshore and Seabed Act. It is likely to meet the legal tests, including iwi having to prove exclusive use and occupation of an area since 1840, to qualify for the title. The Ramekas live in the first of 18 homes inside a gate, where a sign warns the public they are entering private property. Further down the brown clay road, visitors must stop at a little wayside building and pay $5 to continue down to the beach. The fee goes towards road maintenance, gorse control and eventually a new marae for the hapu. Unlike other iwi or hapu who had sold or lost their land by other means along the coastline, Ngati Rehia had not relinquished their way of life and that created the realisation that in practical terms - because they held the land - nothing on the ground would change. (NZ Herald - 'Just $5 buys entry to a coastal paradise' / Yvonne Tahana - 2 August 2010)

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