Local Democracy News

Rāhui organisers on the western Taranaki coast are proposing a unique local advisory group to help shape future kaimoana reserves. The advice group – Kāhui Mātaitai – would bring knowledgeable locals from across coastal Taranaki to advise on bylaws for mātaitai reserves. Mātaitai reserves allow mana whenua to draft bylaws to protect specific ocean areas, such as a particular reef, for approval by the fisheries minister. Before the current temporary legal ban on shellfish coll

Organisers of the kaimoana rāhui along the western Taranaki coast will reveal a plan for enforceable hapū reserves to the community this weekend. The combined hapū of Taranaki iwi want the current temporary prohibition on collecting shellfish replaced with mātaitai reserves, which allow legal regulation by mana whenua of particular reefs, spawning grounds and the like. The rāhui (customary closed season) on shellfish began five years ago, when Orimupiko marae placed the first

New Plymouth councillors have told off staff for not talking with mana whenua before taking a council reform proposal to Government. New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) last month sent a proposal to reform Taranaki local government for the Government to consider under its Head Start amalgamation programme. A report to Te Huinga Taumatua’s meeting on Wednesday said the Beehive’s three month deadline had left no time to consult mana whenua. “Engagement with iwi and hapū did no

A new pan-tribal body established under the Taranaki Maunga Treaty settlement is spreading the word of its wider role helping Taranaki iwi work together. The Maunga redress law set up Te Tōpuni Ngārahu as a combined trust of the region’s eight iwi to care for the mountain and recognise tribal relationships with the ancestral peaks. But the pou whakahaere of Te Tōpuni Ngārahu says negotiators deliberately shaped the redress so the governance trust could meet a wider purpose. “

A Taranaki iwi has signed a resource management agreement with its local council despite a looming Government ban on such deals. Ngāti Ruanui and South Taranaki District Council signed their Mana Whakahono ā Rohe on Wednesday, just ahead of Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms that will nullify the agreement. Since 2017 iwi and councils could negotiate Mana Whakahono ā Rohe to formalise a role for mana whenua in planning and resource management, with a focus on the environme

The two leading contenders for Te Tai Hauāuru electorate have condemned the Government’s local council reforms at a debate in Te Hāwera. About 100 voters filled the Senior Citizens Hall on Thursday night for a debate hosted by Climate Justice Taranaki. Te Tai Hauāuru MP Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said Te Pāti Māori opposed the current local government reforms. She said her starting point to transform councils would be Te Tiriti o Waitangi. “Local government don't recognise it, but