Waiheke Island Maori are thrilled at a decision by the Environment Court that prevents building on a site that local iwi call sacred and ecologically significant.
Waatea News reports the decision overturns permission granted to the Spencer family from the Auckland City Council to build two houses on part of their Man o'War vineyard at Owhiti Bay on the eastern tip of the island.
Piritahi marae committee chairman Wally Manahi says the site is one of many the iwi has been fighting to have protected and it was a hard fought victory.
