Wai 898, #A152 THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT OF WHAINGAROA/RAGLAN HARBOUR WITH A FOCUS ON THE PERIOD SINCE 1970 Martin Fisher Case-study commissioned by the Waitangi Tribunal for the Wai 898 Te Rohe Potae Inquiry April 2014 Contents Author ....................................................................................................................................... vi Explanatory Note ..................................................................................................................... vii Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Background ............................................................................................................................ 1 Claims issues .......................................................................................................................... 2 Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 1 – Historical Overview ............................................................................................... 9 1.1 The Landscape of Whaingaroa Harbour .......................................................................... 9 1.2 Maori and Whaingaroa Harbour to the 1870s................................................................ 11 1.3 The Crown slowly establishes some authority............................................................... 16 1.3.1 Three small case-studies on the Crown’s gradual acquisition of authority ............ 18 1.3.1.1 An accommodation paddock (1) ....................................................................... 18 1.3.1.2 A recreation reserve at Te Kopua Beach (2) ..................................................... 19 1.3.1.3 The removal of sand from Maori land at Te Akau (3) ...................................... 19 1.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 22 Chapter 2 – The modern history of the management of Whaingaroa Harbour ....................... 25 2.1 Local government since the 1970s ................................................................................. 25 2.1.1 Scheme Plans, District Plans and Regional Plans ................................................... 28 2.1.1.1Raglan County Council district scheme planning .............................................. 28 2.1.1.2 Waikato Valley Authority management ........................................................... 31 2.1.1.3 Waikato District Council District Plan ............................................................. 33 2.1.1.4 Waikato Regional Council regional planning ................................................... 36 2.2 Community management of Whaingaroa Harbour ........................................................ 42 2.3 Changes to the Physical Environment ........................................................................... 51 2.3.1 Sedimentation ......................................................................................................... 51 2.3.2 Water quality ........................................................................................................... 56 2.3.3 Estuary edge vegetation .......................................................................................... 59 2.4 Management of customary fisheries .............................................................................. 62 2.4.1 Fish and shellfish .................................................................................................... 62 2.4.2 Customary fisheries legislation and regulations ..................................................... 65 2.4.3 Fisheries Officers .................................................................................................... 69 ii 2.4.4 Dragging at Pipirua ................................................................................................. 69 2.4.5 Developments at Manu Bay .................................................................................... 71 2.4.6 Applications for marine farming ............................................................................. 72 2.5 Management of wahi tapu .............................................................................................. 76 2.5.1 The Historic Places Trust, local government and wahi tapu .................................. 76 2.5.2 TV3 Antennas ......................................................................................................... 78 2.6 Erosion control at Te Kopua .......................................................................................... 80 Chapter 3: Raglan Wastewater Treatment Plant ...................................................................... 85 3.1 The development of the first sewage system, c.1970s ................................................... 86 3.1.1 Maori opposition to the Raglan Sewage Scheme ................................................... 99 3.1.2 Stalled development of the sewage scheme – Mid 1970s to mid 1980s ............... 112 3.2 The development of a second sewage system with the Waikato District Council & Waikato Regional Council, c. 1990s .................................................................................. 124 3.2.1 The WDC application to treat and discharge sewage in Raglan, 1990-1994 ....... 124 3.2.2 The proposed purchasing of Maori land for the new treatment system, 1995-1996 ........................................................................................................................................ 135 3.2.3 The Raglan Sewerage Consultative Group, 1994-1997 ........................................ 140 3.2.4 Resource consent monitoring 1994-1999 ............................................................. 148 3.2.5 1999 WRC Hearings ............................................................................................. 157 3.2.6 The Failure of Mediation and the Raglan Wastewater Working Party, 2000-2004 ........................................................................................................................................ 167 3.2.7 2004 Environment Court decision ........................................................................ 176 3.3 Consent monitoring from 1999-present ....................................................................... 179 3.3.1 January 2002 Compliance Report ......................................................................... 181 3.3.2 Tidal monitoring equipment fault 2003 ................................................................ 183 3.3.3 April 2003 Compliance Report ............................................................................. 183 3.3.4 May 2003 discharges outside consent limits ........................................................ 184 3.3.5 May 2004 Compliance Report .............................................................................. 185 3.3.6 June 2004 pumping outside consent limits ........................................................... 186 3.3.7 Response by WDC to significant non-compliance ............................................... 186 3.3.8 The 2005 Abatement notice .................................................................................. 187 3.3.9 New Resource Consents, February 2005 .............................................................. 189 3.3.10 May 2005 consent compliance report ................................................................. 191 3.3.11 April 2006 consent compliance report ................................................................ 192 iii 3.3.12 Continuing problems with wastewater treatment site construction and sewage spills, 2006 ..................................................................................................................... 193 3.3.13 August 2007 consent compliance report ............................................................. 194 3.3.14 2008 Abatement notice and complaints by Malibu Hamilton ............................ 195 3.3.15 March 2009 consent compliance report .............................................................. 197 3.3.16 Land discharges at Te Kopua .............................................................................. 198 3.3.17 April 2010 spill and June & September 2010 emergency discharge .................. 198 3.3.18 Pipeline maintenance, mid-2010 ......................................................................... 200 3.3.19 June 2010 consent compliance report ................................................................. 202 3.3.20November 2011 consent compliance report ........................................................ 202 3.3.21 November 2012 consent compliance report ....................................................... 202 3.3.22 June 2013 sewage spill........................................................................................ 203 3.3.23 Effects of sewage system on neighbouring Maori landowners .......................... 203 3.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 204 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 205 Bibliography .........................................................................................................................