Section 17 Tangata Whenua

17.1 BACKGROUND Under the RMA local authorities have a number of requirements relating to Māori. One is providing for the relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with ancestral lands, water, sites, wāhi tapu and other taonga. The Council must also have particular regard to kaitiakitanga. Many tangata whenua in the District hold that the most important means of meeting these requirements is that the tangata whenua themselves are actively involved in the governance and management of their resources. This is likely to be achieved through the imminent Hauraki Treaty of Waitangi settlement. The settlement is likely to include some form of co-governance of natural resources between a Hauraki iwi organisation, the Waikato Regional Council and territorial authorities. This co-governance body and the legislation confirming the Treaty of Waitangi settlement may also have an influence on District Plan content before the Proposed Plan is released for submissions.

Māori culture and traditions provide a significant living and evolving contribution to the quality of the District and coastal environment. By working together to develop contacts, processes and procedures, Māori can better maintain their relationship with ancestral lands, water, sites, wāhi tapu and other taonga. These processes include identification of sites and areas of significance to Māori and the incorporation of Māori values into any development there, protection of wāhi tapu and archaeological sites, repositories of information that can be both public information held by the Council and private information held by iwi representatives, and development of Māori land. One way the Plan recognises and provides for Māori relationship with their ancestral lands is by providing for cultural and traditional activities on Māori land in addition to existing development rights for that land. The Plan acknowledges that Māori land has development needs and constraints that differ from freehold land in the District unencumbered by Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 constraints. As required by the Regional Policy Statement, the Plan's zones include additional specific activities that enable Māori land to be used and developed to provide for their culture and traditions. Māori land can of course be developed beyond these activities as well, within the Plan's policy and rule framework like any other land. Māori also own land that is not defined as Māori land under Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993, both collectively through iwi organisations and businesses, and individually. This land is able to be developed and sold as freehold land by Māori and non-Māori alike, and so the Plan applies to this land as for any freehold land in the District. Land held by Māori is likely to increase through the Hauraki Treaty of Waitangi settlement. Whether or not the land remains defined as "Māori land" is not known at this stage, however the settlement will have a significant positive impact on the economic, social and cultural wellbeing of Māori and their land. The Plan manages the protection and management of Māori cultural sites and wāhi tapu in the District in the Historic Heritage section.

17.2 ISSUES

1. The resource management policy framework for general freehold land may not afford sufficient flexibility to allow tāngata whenua to have marae, papakainga development, community services and customary activities on Māori land according to their culture and tradition.

2. Poorly managed development can have adverse effects on areas of significance to Maori, wāhi tapu and other taonga.

3. Tāngata whenua and the Council have had poor channels of communication on resource management issues, including consultation arrangements, how to enable greater local empowerment and decision making, and how to allow for more flexibility and development of Māori land.

17.3 OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES

Objective 1 Māori land is used and developed in a manner that: a) Enables the Maori landowners to use and develop their land for their social, cultural and economic well-being; and b) Provides for the culture and traditions of the tāngata whenua. Objective 2 Tāngata whenua exercise rangatiratanga over their lands, resources, water and taonga, in a manner that promotes sustainable management of natural and physical resources. Objective 3 Tāngata whenua are able to exercise kaitiakitanga on their ancestral lands, sites of significance, and resource management matters of importance to tāngata whenua.

Policy 1 Māori entities such as Iwi authorities, tribal runanga, Māori landowners, iwi, hapu, whanau and marae-based organisations should be consulted about resource management at a level that is appropriate to the matter at hand. Policy 2 Iwi management plans should be used to guide the identification of Māori cultural values or resource management interests. Policy 3 Development on a site or area of significance to Māori (whether on Māori land or not) should incorporate Māori values, such as traditional place names, the restoration of mauri through ecosystem enhancement, the use of appropriate plant species, appropriate tāngata whenua access to the site/area, incorporation of traditional/sympathetic Māori design elements, and/or management of important view shafts to the site/area. Policy 4 Plan rules and processing of resource consents shall recognise that Māori land is difficult to partition and alienate, by removing constraints that are based on the presumption that lots will be subdivided and resold.

Policy 5 Plan rules and processing of resource consents shall promote use and development of Māori land in a manner that recognises the desire to retain the land in the hands of the Māori owners. Policy 6 The scale and density of Māori land development through additional Māori land development rules shall take infrastructure requirements for water, wastewater, stormwater, and transportation into account. Policy 7 Non-residential activities provided through additional Māori land development rules should provide cultural and social benefits to the tāngata whenua of that Māori land.

17.4 METHODS

1. The Council will offer staff expertise and knowledge to resource consent applicants who wish to develop Māori land. The assistance may include how a development can meet the objectives, policies, rules and standards in the Plan, information for a Site Plan, and facilitation between Māori stakeholders.