Keep wharf car-free says Ngati Whatua

8:28 pm on 1 September 2015

Ngati Whatua is supporting calls to keep Auckland's Bledisloe Wharf clear of a giant carpark.

Ngati Whatua is supporting calls to keep Auckland's Bledisloe Wharf clear of a giant carpark.

The iwi runanga warned that extending the wharf into the Waitemata Harbour to cater to car imports may not be the best move economically.

The call echoed that of Ports of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns.

Te Runanga o Ngati Whatua wants to see if the cars could go to Whangarei instead.

Chief executive Russell Kemp said Waitemata Harbour is a taonga that needed to be protected for future generations, he said Auckland could not continue to expand into a major international container port by extending its footprint into the Waitemata.

Mr Kemp said relocating the port out of the city would become inevitable.