Taranaki Regional Council is to consider pushing ahead on seven agreements with iwi despite the council's days being numbered under local government reforms.
By Craig Ashworth for Local Democracy Reporting
On Tuesday TRC's powerful Policy and Planning Committee will decide how to boost mana whenua engagement in the council's work.
A report by staff sets out priorities for the council to meet its legal obligation "to ensure mana whenua are meaningfully involved in future planning and decision making".
Ongoing discussion would also be a chance "to strengthen partnerships with mana whenua ahead of major spatial planning work," the report says.
In December, the Government announced it would abolish regional councils in the biggest local government shake-up in 35 years.
But the report to councillors says crucial agreements with mana whenua would remain in place even after law changes from the Beehive.
Since December, three iwi authorities have initiated negotiations for Mana Whakahono ā Rohe (MWAR) – agreements on how mana whenua take part in Resource Management Act processes.
Ngā Rauru wants a MWAR with the regional council and South Taranaki District Council, while Ngāti Maru's application includes the regional council and Taranaki's three district councils.
Te Tōpuni Ngārahu – a new body with iwi authority status set up when Treaty breaches over Taranaki Maunga were settled – has also initiated a MWAR with all four councils.
The Government says the complex Resource Management Act blocks development and is replacing it with two new laws before Parliament – the Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill.
The report to Taranaki Regional Council's Policy and Planning Committee says Mana Whakahono ā Rohe will survive the law change.
"The Natural Environment Bill and the Planning Bill carry forward MWAR that existed or were initiated from before the Bills receive Royal Assent."
Taranaki's four councils are now working out the ground rules for setting a Regional Spatial Plan under those new laws.
The report says TRC and mana whenua needed to work together on the ground rules – known as a process agreement.
"The process agreement … must set out how Treaty settlements and iwi participation instruments, like joint management agreements and Mana Whakahono ā Rohe, will be upheld.
"It must also set out how iwi will be consulted in plan making more broadly."
Taranaki Regional Council has other deals or ongoing negotiations to work with mana whenua:
- Talks with Ngāti Maru on a joint management agreement including shared decision making over the Waitara River catchment
- A draft agreement for a Waitara River Committee to manage funds from the sale of Waitara Reserve Lands sales in the interim, while other matters are resolved
- Working out an agreement under the Maunga Redress Act, including how to give effect to the legal personhood of Maunga Taranaki and associated peaks in planning and consents
- Finalising a leadership forum of councillors from Taranaki Regional Council, Horizons Regional Council and Ruapehu District Council alongside Maniapoto iwi trustees under a 2025 relationship agreement.
Iwi representatives sit on Taranaki Regional Council's two key committees under Treaty settlement acts for Te Atiawa, Taranaki Iwi and Ngāruahine and the council can't make any changes that diminish that representation.
Last year, the Government ordered councils to halt planning work ahead of its law changes, including Taranaki Regional Council's work on its outdated freshwater plan.
The report recommends that Taranaki Regional Council transfer previous freshwater policy work with iwi into the new spatial planning process.
– LDR is local democracy journalism funded by RNZ and NZ on Air
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