IN the MATTER the Resource Management Act 1991
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IN THE MATTER The Resource Management Act 1991 AND IN THE MATTER of a Board of Inquiry appointed under s149J of the Resource Management Act 1991 to consider notices of requirement and applications for resource consent made by the New Zealand Transport Agency in relation to the East West Link roading proposal in Auckland SUBMITTER Ngati Whatua Orakei Trust STATEMENT OF NGARIMU ALAN HUIROA BLAIR INTRODUCTION 1. My name is Ngarimu Alan Huiroa Blair. I am an Elected Representative of the Ngāti Whātua Orākei Trust which is an elected body that represents the collective interests of the descendants of Tuperiri who established Te Taou, Nga Oho and Te Uringutu mana and Ahi Kaaroa on the Auckland Isthmus in the mid 17th Century. Today those 3 sub-tribes are more commonly known as Ngāti Whātua Orākei. 2. I am authorised to give this statement on behalf of Ngāti Whātua Orākei in support of our submission against the notices of requirement and applications for resource consent made by the New Zealand Transport Agency in relation to the East West Link roading proposal in Auckland. I am authorised to give this evidence on behalf of Ngāti Whātua Orākei based on my expertise in the specific history, korero, tikanga and kawa of Ngāti Whātua Orākei and my previous involvement in a similar application by the then called Transit NZ in 2007 that was not supported by Auckland City Council Commissioners. I attach that decision at Appendix A. SUMMARY 3. The key points of my statement of evidence are as follows; (a) Ngāti Whātua Orākei is an iwi with mana whenua status for the Onehunga and Mangere area and acknowledges and respects also the ahi kaa and mana whenua status of various Waiohua iwi, namely, Te Kawerau a Maki, Ngati Te Ata, Te Akitai, Ngati Tamaoho, Ngai Tai ki Tamaki and Waikato-Tainui to whom we are very closely related. (b) Ngāti Whātua Orākei has a deep and ongoing connection to Te Tō Waka, Te Papapa, the Mangere Inlet and Onehunga area. (c) Ngāti Whātua Orākei considers that the East-West Link as proposed by NZTA does not adequately provide for as a matter of national importance the relationship of Ngāti Whātua Orākei to Te Tō Waka, Te Papapa, the Mangere Inlet and the Onehunga area as required at section 6 (e) of the RMA91. (d) Ngāti Whātua Orākei considers that the proposed East-West Link and NZTA prevents Ngāti Whātua Orākei’s ability to adequately practice kaitiakitanga which must be provided for at section 7(a) of the RMA91. (e) Ngāti Whātua Orākei in 2006 made submissions against a similar proposal from Transit (now NZTA) along with over 100 other submitters. This proposal was heard by an Independent Panel of Commissioners which was ultimately not supported. The current proposal should be rejected. (f) Ngāti Whātua Orākei considers that receiving a similar project with further and additional negative impacts on the Mangere Inlet is not consistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi that requires the Crown to act in good faith and a duty to actively protect Maori interests including taonga. EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS 4. I hold a bachelors degree in Geography and Maori from the University of Auckland and guest lecture in various departments there and at AUT on Maori urban planning, design and media matters. I established the Ngāti Whātua Orākei Heritage and Planning unit in 1998 and led it until 2011. I am an elected representative on the Ngāti Whatua Orakei Trust and am authorised to speak for and on behalf of the tribe on this matter. CODE OF CONDUCT 5. I confirm that I have read the Expert Witness Code of Conduct set out in the Environment Court’s Practice Note 2014. I have complied with the Code of Conduct in preparing this evidence. Except where I state that I am relying on the evidence of another person, this evidence is within the area of my expertise. I have not omitted to consider material facts known to me that might alter or detract from the opinions expressed in this evidence. As stated in [4], this evidence is on behalf of Ngāti Whātua Orākei Trust and is not, in that sense, independent. However I am aware that only mana whenua can give evidence as to effects on their cultural values, traditions and relationships, in accordance with tikanga. This is reflected in Policy 2 NZCPS.1 NGATI WHATUA ORAKEI - RELATIONSHIP TO ONEHUNGA AREA 6. Ngāti Whātua Orākei have direct associations with the Onehunga area stretching back to the time of the Te Taou/Ngati Whatua invasion and occupation of Tamaki in the mid-17th century. The genealogical links to the earlier occupation groups that were created through the marriages with Waiohua enables Ngāti Whātua to connect to the entire length of the Maori occupation of the Onehunga area. 7. Onehunga and its surrounding land and waterways cannot be seen in isolation but as one ‘township’/resource hub in a Tamaki cityscape of often connected kāinga and use sites. The Manukau Harbour, in which Onehunga is located, has been long settled by Maori. The ancestral waka Tainui made the crossing via the portage from the Waitemata at Te Tō Waka, entering the Manukau near Otahuhu and ever since it has been a pathway for people crossing the isthmus or coming to Tamaki via portages from the Waikato. 8. The rich marine resources of the Manukau, particularly fish such as kanae/mullet and pioke/dog-shark and shellfish such as pipi, tuatua, tuangi/cockle and tio/oyster have sustained generations of tangata whenua. 9. The name Onehunga itself has been identified as having several different possible meanings. The most popular translation is ‘friable earth’ in relation to the fertile volcanic soils of the area. There were extensive kumara plantations there into the 1840s. 10. A less favoured translation is the ‘Place of Burials’ as the numerous lava caves in the vicinity were used for interment. One-unga – or a place where canoes hauled up is another name 1 Policy 2 includes: “..(b) involve iwi authorities or hapū on behalf of tangata whenua in the preparation of regional policy statements, and plans, by undertaking effective consultation with tangata whenua; with such consultation to be early, meaningful, and as far as practicable in accordance with tikanga Māori; (c) with the consent of tangata whenua and as far as practicable in accordance with tikanga Māori, incorporate mātauranga Māori1 in regional policy statements, in plans, and in the consideration of applications for resource consents, notices of requirement for designation and private plan changes..” reflecting the location of Onehunga proper and the beach which was destroyed by the first edition of State Highway 20 in 1977. 11. Te Hopua a Rangi is the crater once inundated by the sea then used as a Council rubbish tip and in-filled in the 1930s, now known as Gloucester Park and bisected by the motorway. The tuff ring has a mix of office, light industrial and commercial buildings. The evidence of Te Akitai Waiohua Iwi Authority attests to the high importance of this geological and cultural feature. 12. This volcano, along with the others of Tamaki, is said to be created by powerful tohunga from Waitakere looking to destroy a war party from Hunua. The conflict was provoked by the illicit love affair between a girl of their people, Hinemairangi, and Tamaireia of Waitakere. The tohunga released the volcanic forces of the earth controlled by the unborn god child Ruaumoko, restless within the womb of his earth mother Papatuanuku. 13. These traditions reflect tribal cosmological beliefs and explain the environment Ngāti Whātua Orākei ancestors and their descendants have encountered. They link ancestral names and events to landscapes and provide an unbroken association with the formation of Tamaki Makaurau and its many generations of ongoing human occupation. They also reflect the spiritual nature of the volcanoes – associated with the actions of the gods themselves and the very body of our earth parent. 14. Onehunga was blessed with fresh water sources and the multiple springs that well up from the volcanic rock are still used by industries today. The spring on the corner of Princes St and Spring St had been a favourite watering place of the all Iwi and early settlers alike. 15. Waihihi is the name of a land block of 163 acres at Onehunga ‘encompassing all the most valuable land in the town’ who Thomas Jackson claimed to have purchased from Wiremu Hopihona. Waihihi is also the name for the water ‘boiling out’ of the springs on the north- east edge of Te Hopua a Rangi which still flow today. 16. Te Papapa, or ‘The fortress built with rock slabs’ refers to the district between Penrose and Onehunga. 17. Waikaraka or “Waters of the karaka tree” became the location of the cemetery on the shores of the Manukau Harbour to the east of Onehunga. The bay there has since been reclaimed and is now known as Waikaraka Park. 18. After the death of our eponymous ancestor Tuperiri about 1795, Ngāti Whātua in Tamaki changed their pattern of settlement, coming down from the heights of Maungakiekie and establishing themselves in coastal kainga such as at Onehunga, with seasonal movement related to resource use. 19. Between 1820 and 1840, the two principal places of residence were Mangere and Onehunga which together formed the two halves of a site complex. Each section of the Mangere- Onehunga complex was separately backed by hundreds of acres of light, productive soils, enabling depleted garden plots to be continuously re-located adjacent to the main settlement. 20.