The Māori councillors’ organisation has called for the Government to cancel its cull of council-iwi resource management agreements. The Beehive plans to scrap Mana Whakahono ā Rohe deals in Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms currently before Parliament – a move opposed by Local Government New Zealand’s Māori councillors network, Te Maruata. Te Maruata co-chair Dinnie Moeahu said Mana the deals between councils and iwi had been widely misunderstood. "We want to be very clea

New Plymouth is to spend $660,000 to try and influence local council reform, despite not meeting the Beehive’s criteria to take part. The Government has ordered councils to amalgamate to make local government simpler and cheaper. It offered councils a ‘Head Start’ pathway to come up with reform proposals – but demanded bids be backed by at least two district councils. South Taranaki and Stratford councils have agreed on a Head Start merger proposal but rejected the invitation

Two Taranaki councils wanting to merge have set out early details of how they’d work with mana whenua after the Government’s local body reforms. South Taranaki and Stratford district councils unanimously approved a proposal to cabinet to join as one unitary authority, under Wellington’s Head Start process, this week. Taranaki iwi representatives have objected to limited mana whenua input into the rapid reform, especially after a Government reversal decreed Mana Whakahono ā Ro