Protesters stopped Dunedin traffic for a time this afternoon, as an impromptu rally was held in support of the Ihumatao land dispute in Auckland.
They sat in the middle of State Highway 1 at the intersection of Albany and Cumberland Sts for about 10 minutes before moving off peacefully.
Earlier, about 300 people gathered at the reserve at 11am to begin their walk, stopping outside Dunedin North MP David Clark's office on Albany St before marching towards the Octagon along George St, where they arrived about midday.
The group included members of Otago University's Maori students' association Te Roopu Maori and the Green Party, as well as members of the public.
People carried banners reading "Protect Our Taonga", "We Support Ihumatoa" and "Not One More Acre"- a slogan made famous during the Bastion Point occupation in the late 1970s.
The crowd sang and chanted "Toitu te whenua ake ake ake" and performed a haka en route.
LAND DISPUTE
Ihumatao is believed to be one of the first places where Maori in Tamaki Makaurau settled, farmed and thrived, has been designated to make way for 480 new homes in a city crippled by a housing crisis.
But the housing development has been protested by the SOUL (Save Our Unique Landscape) group who say the land has historical, cultural and archaeological significance and should be left an open space or returned to mana whenua.
It started when Auckland Council tried to make the land an open, public space.
In 2012, this move was successfully challenged in the Environment Court and the council was directed to rezone the land, meaning it could be developed for business or residential purposes in future.
The council could not challenge this decision.
Two years later, the Government and the council allocated a piece of land next to the Otuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve as a Special Housing Area.
- additional reporting NZME and RNZ
