By Janika Ter Ellen
Wellington's Occupy movement is over, 109 days after they set up camp in the central city.
Council staff and police turned up at 6.30 this morning and demanded the remaining 15 Occupiers leave Civic Square.
But some of the hard core were unwilling to call it quits, resurrecting a tent as soon as officials left.
Wellington City Council’s Wendy Walker says it is a good outcome for everybody.
“They've had their protest and they've moved on peacefully,” she says.
But not 100 percent peacefully; police are investigating the punching of a Council security guard as he supervised the removal of the Occupiers’ tents.
Trevor Paul, one of the Occupiers, says “one of the boys smacked one of them in the nose because he had a camera in his face”.
“He's lucky I didn't get a hold of his camera and chuck it through the Michael Fowler Centre.”
The anger toward the Council remained; an interview was interrupted as guards tried to keep the area secure while the gear was moved.
Others did their best to clean up the area as they left.
The Occupiers had to leave because a bylaw, also used to rid their Auckland counterparts, prohibits camping. However, later in the morning a defiant few returned.
The Council says it plans to fence off the area both to fix the grass and stop Occupiers getting back onto the site, saying it would consider forced removal in the future.
For now it is letting the remaining few continue to make their point.
3 News