A development business which hired a security firm to protect the site of a controversial Waiheke Island marina development has spoken out after a security guard was filmed on Wednesday kicking a protestor in the face.
Protect Pūtiki has been protesting the development of the marina by Kennedy Point Boatharbour Ltd for around four months amid claims the 186-berth marina endangers a nearby kororā (little blue penguin) colony. The developer rejects those claims.
Rising tensions between the protestors and security guards at the Pūtiki Point site have since sparked a police investigation into claims of violence aimed at the protestors.
In the video, a man in a high-vis jacket can be seen shoving a protestor on a pontoon into the water before kicking them in the face.
Kennedy Point Boatharbour director Kitt Littlejohn today told the Herald there was more to Wednesday's events than what was shown on video.
"The video footage shows a small segment of a confrontation that took place between protestors who were trespassing and the company's security personnel. It is not an accurate representation of the full incident," he said.
Littlejohn added that the construction crew and security staff are “simply trying to do their jobs to protect the construction area from trespassers in line with a legal consent to build”.
Construction of the marina began in March after Auckland Council signed off on the project.
“They have a right to go to work without being verbally or physically abused,” he said.
Littlejohn said the company respects the right for people to peacefully protest, “however, this protest is no longer being conducted in a peaceful manner”.
“This has got to stop before someone gets seriously hurt."
However, one protestor yesterday told RNZ that "boot[ing] someone in the head" was "not reasonable force".
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