Taupō
District Council and Ngāti Turangitukua are moving forward together into a new
future for the Tūrangi township and its surrounds after signing a historic Mana
Whakahono ā Rohe agreement on Saturday afternoon.
Ngāti
Tūrangitukua is the Ngāti Tūwharetoa hapū that holds mana whenua over Tūrangi
township and its surrounds and includes its post-settlement entity, the Ngāti
Turangitukua Charitable Trust. The hapū is a major landowner in Tūrangi and much of the town’s community amenities and
three waters infrastructure is located on reserves they own.
The signing
was held at a formal powhiri hosted by Ngāti Turangitukua at Hirangi Marae in
Tūrangi, attended by Ngāti Turangitukua hapū, Taupō District Council elected members
and staff, Tūrangi-Tongariro Community Board members and Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ariki
Tā Tumu Te Heuheu.
Both parties
thanked the other for having the patience and fortitude to work through the
three years of negotiations that preceded the Mana Whakahono agreement and
looked towards the future.
Ngāti
Turangitukua Māori Committee chair Hine Mohi said the signing marked a
significant milestone but added that co-governance was only the beginning of a
journey of collaboration, inclusion, equity and justice.
Ms Mohi said
it is vital that the hapū participates in decision-making that affects the
land, environment and wellbeing of its people. In signing this document Ngāti
Turangitukua demonstrates that the hapū looks forward to an environment of
cooperation and commitment, she said.
Taupō
District Mayor David Trewavas agreed, saying that the occasion represented the end
of one journey and the start of another and appropriately came just as
Matariki, the Māori New Year, was about to begin.
“I am glad
to lead a council that’s helping to redress some of the pain you have all
received and that’s coming together here to create a brighter future for
Tūrangi,” Mr Trewavas said. “We have an opportunity to be a shining example to
the rest of the nation, an opportunity to show the benefits that come from
co-governance, to show that it’s not something to be scared of but something to
be embraced.”
Council
chief executive Gareth Green thanked Ngāti Turangitukua’s lead negotiator Tina
Porou for her tenacity, the hapū for its aroha and patience and the
Tūrangi-Tongariro Community Board for its support.
“Hopefully
with this signing of the agreement we can sit at the table together and make
the most of the best things for this town…I think this gives a real opportunity
to move the town forward.”
Ngāti
Turangitukua lead negotiator Tina Porou said the journey towards the Mana
Whakahono had been tough and gave her thanks to the hapū and the council.
“We’ve been
trying things that have never been done before with communities that have
always done something the same way and where sharing power means giving up
something.
“This is the
opportunity to create again a platform that says: ‘those in Tūrangi, we decide
what’s right for us’.”
Ms Porou
also paid tribute to the Tūrangi-Tongariro Community Board which had supported
the Mana Whakahono throughout though it meant the eventual disestablishment of
the board for the new co-governance committee. The community board will be
disestablished at the end of the current triennium in October.
The Mana
Whakahono covers Resource Management Act [RMA], Local Government Act and
Reserve Act matters and was agreed between the parties after extensive
discussion and negotiation. It will be implemented by a co-governance committee
equally made up of Ngāti Tūrangitukua and council appointees.
A Mana
Whakahono ā Rohe is a tool provided for by the RMA designed to enable tangata
whenua and local authorities to discuss and record how they will work together
on resource management matters, including joint decision making. The new Mana
Whakahono agreement embeds this into a wider collaborative framework aimed at
establishing a genuine equitable partnership.