The Environmental Management of the Mokau River Mouth, Particularly As It Relates to Wahi Tapu
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Wai 898, #A149 THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT OF THE MOKAU RIVER MOUTH Matthew Cunningham Case-study commissioned by the Waitangi Tribunal for Te Rohe Potae district inquiry (Wai 898) March 2014 Contents Figures................................................................................................................................... iv Author ................................................................................................................................... vi Explanatory note .................................................................................................................. vii Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 Summary ............................................................................................................................ 1 Background ........................................................................................................................ 1 Claim issues ....................................................................................................................... 2 Maori ownership and kaitiakitanga ............................................................................ 2 Customary and indigenous resources ......................................................................... 3 Wahi tapu ................................................................................................................... 4 Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 5 1. Chapter 1 - Historical overview ......................................................................................... 8 1.1 The landscape of the Mokau River mouth ................................................................... 8 1.2 Maori and the Mokau River to the 1870s .................................................................. 10 1.3 The Crown assumes control, c.1880-1900 ................................................................. 14 1.4 Local government management of the Mokau River mouth, 1901-1970s ................ 16 2. Chapter 2 - Local government regimes since the 1970s .................................................. 20 3. Chapter 3 - Management of customary resources ............................................................ 23 3.1 Whitebait stands ......................................................................................................... 24 3.2 Pollution ..................................................................................................................... 32 4. Chapter 4 - Management of wahi tapu ............................................................................. 33 4.1 Te Naunau .................................................................................................................. 34 4.1.1 Background, c. 1800-1941 .............................................................................. 34 4.1.2 Private development, 1941-1951 .................................................................... 40 4.1.3 Maori interests in Te Naunau, 1951-1952 ...................................................... 47 4.1.4 Te Naunau and the Maori Land Court, 1953 .................................................. 57 4.1.5 Subdivision and the first major erosion event, 1953-1965 ............................. 65 4.1.6 The second major erosion event, 1994-1999 .................................................. 69 4.1.7 The third major erosion event, 2004-2010 ...................................................... 74 4.1 8 The fourth major erosion event, 2013 ............................................................. 85 4.2 Te Kauri ..................................................................................................................... 86 4.3 Mokau pilot station (Koutu) ...................................................................................... 93 4.4 Motutawa Island......................................................................................................... 97 5. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 102 ii Appendix A – Commission ................................................................................................ 105 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 108 Primary sources .............................................................................................................. 108 Secondary sources .......................................................................................................... 113 iii Figures Figure 1: Satellite map of the Mokau River mouth ................................................................... 8 Figure 2: Mokau harbour as viewed from the north side ........................................................... 9 Figure 3: Erosion on the seaward shore of Mokau spit ........................................................... 10 Figure 4: Rating Area of the Mokau Harbour Board, 1912 (Source: Le1 1735 1912/8, Archives New Zealand) ............................................................................................................ 16 Figure 5: The Mokau wharf in 1928, looking downstream from Te Kauri (Source: M1 405 3/13/218 2, Archives New Zealand) ......................................................................................... 17 Figure 6: An example of a whitebait stand on the Mokau River ............................................. 26 Figure 7: Te Naunau as surveyed by Thomas Perham in 1884 (Source: Accession No. ARC2002-172/1, Puke Ariki) ................................................................................................... 36 Figure 8: Te Naunau as surveyed by A. O. Donahoo in 1899 (Source: HN ML 17014, ICS database) .................................................................................................................................. 37 Figure 9: Sketch of the Mokau spit by the Department of Lands and Survey, 1923 (Source: HN ML 13666, ICS database) .................................................................................................. 39 Figure 10: Sketch of the Mokau spit by the Department of Lands and Survey, 1941 (Source: BAOB A1239 1542 Box 306 14/20 1, Archives New Zealand (Auckland)) ............................. 41 Figure 11: Sketch of the Mokau spit by the Department of Lands and Survey, 1949 (Source: BAOB A1239 1542 Box 306 14/20 1, Archives New Zealand (Auckland)) ............................. 44 Figure 12: Locations of private baches on Mokau spit, c. 1951 (Source: ABWN W5021 6095 Box 253 7/813 1, Archives New Zealand) ................................................................................ 47 Figure 13: Plan of the Mokau spit by the Department of Lands and Survey with proposed Maori reserves (edged yellow) and site of isolated burial (Jessie Matatu, indicated by green mark), 1953 (Source: SA ML 17020, ICS database) .............................................................. 57 Figure 14: The two areas of Mokau spit vested in Maori ownership on 14 August 1953 (Source: SA ML 17148, ICS database) .................................................................................... 65 Figure 15: The area of the Mokau spit set aside as a reserve on 16 December 1974 (Source: HN SO 47911, ICS database) .................................................................................................. 69 Figure 16: Prohibited Activity and Coastal Hazard Areas on the Mokau spit (Source: Waitomo District Plan, March 2009, p 223) ........................................................................... 71 Figure 17: Shoreline changes of the Mokau spit in the period 1884 to 1995 (Source: ‘Coastal Erosion Hazard In The Waikato Region’, Environment Waikato, 1999, p 21) ....................... 72 Figure 18: The sandbag wall erected on the Mokau spit in 2004 (Source: Series 61 29 92A Vol. 1, Waikato Regional Council) ......................................................................................... 75 Figure 19: The rock wall at Mokau spit (Source: File No. 504/014A, Waitomo District Council).................................................................................................................................... 78 Figure 20: The rock wall constructed by Waitomo District Council in August 2013 ............. 86 iv Figure 21: Proposed location for the new wharf at Te Kauri, 13 November 1904 (Source: M1 523 4/510, Archives New Zealand) ......................................................................................... 90 Figure 22: Subdivision of Te Kauri 2 in 1961 (Source: DPS 7149, ICS database) ............... 92 Figure 23: Plan of signal station reserve, 1896 (Source: Accession No. ARC2002-172/1, Puke Ariki) ....................................................................................................................................... 95 Figure 24: Area of land taken for a signal station at Mokau, 12 December 1896 (Source: NP SO 723, ICS database) ............................................................................................................. 96 Figure 25: Motutawa Island ................................................................................................... 101 v Author MATTHEW CUNNINGHAM is a Research Analyst/Inquiry Facilitator for