Writing Taranaki Maunga plan starts after public comments
A new management plan for Taranaki Maunga will be drafted over summer after more than 50 meetings across the region with people interested in the future of the mountain.
The plan will set out how Te Papa-kura-o-Taranaki national park is protected, restored, accessed and used.
It’s being created by Te Tōpuni Kōkōrangi, a management board set up under the redress settlement for the colonial confiscation of Taranaki Maunga.
So far, the plan is a blank page – but through the past two-month public comment period, people have offered early input before drafting begins.
Te Tōpuni Kōkōrangi has held 55 meetings with groups wanting a first say on the plan, which will be called He Kawa Ora mō Te Papa-kura-o-Taranaki.
The Department of Conservation and Te Tōpuni Kōkōrangi appointed planners Sean Zieltjes and Laura Buttimore to coordinate development of He Kawa Ora.
They’ve met with iwi and hapū, the region’s tramping and climbing clubs, conservation groups, schools, service clubs, rangatahi and anyone else wanting a say in the new era of the former Egmont National Park.
The 2025 Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Act recognises the park’s peaks and surrounding ancestral lands as a legal person, Te Kāhui Tupua.
Buttimore said legal personhood had led to some fears that access to the park might be curbed – especially amongst regular users like the tramping clubs.
“But once people understand that that's … not what this new legislation is about ... then people are like, ‘Oh, okay, actually we all want the same thing here’.”
“We've all got the same shared vision for the maunga to be a vibrant and thriving place for future generations, and that's what everybody wants.”
The Act sets out Ngā Pou Whakatupua – the “intrinsic values that represent the essence of Te Kāhui Tupua”– which were explored in the many meetings, Zieltjes said.
The values had drawn no negative comments once people understood them, he said.
“They're about collectivism, relationships, identity, restoration and reciprocity, and then intergenerational responsibility.
“We haven't had anybody who said, ‘That's a really bad idea’.”
He said the framework of Ngā Pou Whakatupua called for people to think about their relationship with the maunga.
“
So that's really the discussion: what is your relationship with the maunga, and how do we operate in a way that is in service of the maunga?”
Eight drop-in sessions at libraries across the region didn’t attract a lot of interest, but the planning advisors said that was likely because there wasn’t yet a tangible plan for the wider public to respond to.
Zieltjes expected a draft He Kawa Ora mō Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki to be ready for Te Tōpuni Kōkōrangi by May.
The plan will be publicly notified in June and be up for formal public consultation and submissions.
The completed plan finally needs joint approval by the Minister of Conservation and the governance board Te Tōpuni Ngārahu, which has representatives from the eight iwi of Taranaki.
nā Craig Ashworth craig@tekorimako.co.nz
LDR is local body journalism hosted by Te Korimako o Taranaki and funded by Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa and Irirangi te Motu
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