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Council engagement with tāngata whenua for RMA processes - a Ngāi Tahu case study

Best Practice Examples

Identifying hapū/rūnanga and key individuals

The Otago Regional Council has a contacts database and a contacts procedures manual. The manual forms part of a new staff member 's induction and is then referred to on an ongoing basis. All information is available to the public on the resource consent consultation web page. Information provided to the public identifies the Kāi Tahu ki Otago Ltd office as a starting point for consultation. Otago Regional Council and Otago Rūnanga have a Memorandum of Understanding and a protocol that is available on the council website.

Environment Canterbury maintains a list of names and map locations of all Papatipu Rūnanga, including their contact details and names of the secretaries and chair/upoko. This information is not available to the public on the internet, but is available to all staff on the Environment Canterbury intranet, and to consent applicants who contact the Council. Iwi liaison officers within the Council maintain contacts and relationships with Papatipu Rūnanga and key people. The locations of all Papatipu Rūnanga are shown in formal Council documents, such as its Long Term Council Community Plan, Regional Policy Statement and Natural Resources Regional Plan. The Natural Resources Regional Plan includes a map showing the location of marae and Papatipu Rūnanga boundaries for resource consent purposes.

Relationship agreements between tāngata whenua and councils

Environment Southland, Invercargill District Council, Southland District Council and Gore District Council have a Charter of Understanding with Te Ao Mārama Inc, which is authorised to represent Te Rūnangao Awarua, Te Rūnanga o Hokonui, Te Rūnangao Ōraka Aparima and Te Rūnangao Waihopai. The Charter was established in 1997, and the most recent version was signed off early in 2004.
The Charter establishes and provides for a clear understanding of the basis for, and ongoing conduct of, the relationship between the four councils and tāngata whenua, in the context of both the RMA and the LGA.

Iwi planning documents

Environment Canterbury has electronic and hard copies of all iwi planning documents produced by Papatipu Rūnanga and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. They are accessible to all staff who need to use them, primarily for consents and planning processes.
Otago Regional Council has electronic and hard copies of all iwi planning documents produced in the region. The public has access to all the documents at the council library. Consents and policy staff have copies of Kāi Tahu ki Otago Natural Resource Management Plan 1995 and 2005 in each office, to be used for policy preparation and consent processing.

Assistance for Māori engagement

Environment Southland, Invercargill District Council, Southland District Council and Gore District Council are all parties to a Charter of Understanding with Te Ao Mārama Inc. This charter states that each year the councils will provide a set amount of funding to Te Ao Mārama Inc. The figures provided during interviews (2005 and 2006) combined to approximately $100,000. Environment Southland also provides funding for a tikanga Māori student to work with Te Ao Mārama Inc. during university semester breaks.

Kaikōura District Council allows rūnanga members to claim actual costs for time spent assessing any RMA or council-related issue where the Council has requested the input. On private applications, the applicant is charged directly by the rūnanga according to a terms of reference agreed between the parties. The Council's land use application form identifies that the applicant may be required to submit a cultural impact assessment as part of the application. The Council provides a meeting allowance for iwi and rūnanga members on the district plan committee and on the resource consent committee. The Council also provided funding for printing the Te Rūnanga o Kaikōura Environmental Management Plan 2005 - Te Poha o Tohu Raumati. The Council contributes funding for members of the rūnanga to attend seminars and other training for RMA/LGA purposes, including the Making Good Decisions programme provided by the Ministry for the Environment.

Recording sites of significance

The Proposed Kaikōura District Plan has an appendix that outlines areas or sites of significance to Te Rūnanga o Kaikōura, which are derived from the New Zealand Archaeological Association (NZAA) register. Using the NZAA register is a good starting point for identifying and recording sites of significance. The Council also uses the Crown Settlement Offer to identify Statutory Acknowledgements. Both of these are accessible to the public. The Council has been working with the Historic Places Trust (HPT) and Te Rūnanga o Kaikōura to establish a heritage alert layer for planning maps of potential sites of interest. The Council also:

Awareness of issues and resource management activities

Dunedin City Council has a Memorandum of Understanding with Kāti Huirapa Rūnanga ki Puketeraki Incorporated and Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou Incorporated that recognises them as mana whenua and the Council's first point of contact. The Memorandum provides an agreement that the rūnanga will contribute an understanding of the needs of whānau within Dunedin City. The Memorandum establishes a Māori Participation Working Party and sets a work plan.

As well as the Memorandum, the Council has used the Kāi Tahu ki Otago Natural Resource Management Plan 2005 to identify particular rūnanga concerns. These generally relate to:

A summary of the Kāi Tahu ki Otago Natural Resource Management Plan 2005 has been created and circulated to all relevant Dunedin City Council activity managers, and follow up discussions have been held to ensure awareness. The resource consent protocol also outlines the areas of concern, and is expressed in a brochure on consultation for resource consent applicants.

Council staff awareness of tāngata whenua issues

Environment Southland uses a range of methods to ensure staff are aware of issues of importance to tāngata whenua. Some of these measures are:

Use of Māori Planning Commissioners

Kaikōura District Council has a policy that addresses:

The Council's Hearings and Applications Committee comprises two tāngata whenua representatives, two community representatives and three elected members. At the time of the interviews (pre introduction of section 100A of the RMA) independent commissioners were only employed where the Council had a direct interest in the application. In such cases, an iwi representative and another member of the Hearing and Applications Committee are also present for the hearing. The Council's delegations manual covers the representation of committees and the appointment of commissioners.

Māori protocol at council hearings

The Otago Regional Council hearings web page provides that tikanga Māori must be recognised at a hearing. The Council's hearings protocol provides for any person to speak in te reo Māori and for practices such as waiata. The hearing protocol has its basis in the Memorandum of Understanding between Otago Regional Council and Kāi Tahu ki Otago Ltd.

Tāngata whenua involvement in RMA plan development processes

Environment Southland has actively sought to take Te Whakatau Kaupapa o Murihiku - Ngāi Tahu Resource Management Strategy into account in its second-generation plan development, as set out in the Charter of Understanding.

The Council has determined not to include a separate section for tāngata whenua in its second generation plans, such as the Proposed Regional Freshwater Plan. Rather, issues of importance to tāngata whenua are woven throughout the document. The Council's rationale is that the issues of water quality and quantity are the same for the whole community and not limited to tāngata whenua. The Plan does, however, mention the special relationship Ngāi Tahu has with water so that those matters can be considered during resource consent decision-making processes. This approach has been readily agreed to by iwi.

The Council has also invited tāngata whenua to sit on the hearings panel for the Proposed Regional Freshwater Plan hearings and on the Regional Land Transport Committee. Tāngata whenua representatives are always invited onto Council working parties. In policy and plan development process, staff and Councillors attend hui with tāngata whenua, both in the Council chambers and on marae. The Council has also dedicated the time of a resource management planner to work with Te Ao Mārama Inc. to update the iwi planning document.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council took the Kāi Tahu ki Otago Natural Resource Management Plan into account when developing Proposed Plan Change 3, Heritage to the Proposed Queenstown Lakes District Plan. The plan change specifically refers to the Natural Resource Management Plan and provides for the identification of tāngata whenua sites on the Council's geographical information system.

Identifying Statutory Acknowledgements

Waimate District Council describes each of the five Statutory Acknowledgements located in its District within the Takata Whenua Values section of the District Plan. The Statutory Acknowledgements are also identified on the planning maps. The purpose of the Statutory Acknowledgements are also described.

Identifying tāngata whenua as affected parties

The Kaikoura District Council has formal processes in place to help determine whether tāngata whenua are an affected party. The process involves:

While the Council reserves the discretion to decide if the Rūnanga is an affected party, the decision is quite often obvious from pre-application consultation. The close working relationship between the Council and the Rūnanga facilitates this decision making process.

Cultural impact assessments

The Marlborough District Council has a resource consent application brochure that provides a clear indication of areas of special interest to tāngata whenua. Council planners determine the need for a cultural impact assessment at the pre-application stage, and, if a site is known to contain areas/resources of interest to tāngata whenua, then the Council would expect the applicant to engage tāngata whenua to provide a cultural impact assessment. If an assessment report is not forthcoming, then Council would engage with tāngata whenua to commission such a report. Similarly, Council would commission tāngata whenua to prepare a cultural impact assessment if the Council was the applicant. The Council maintains a register of tāngata whenua contacts.

Applicant awareness of issues of concerns to tāngata whenua

Dunedin City Council and Kai Tahu ki Otago Ltd have jointly prepared a brochure aimed at providing prospective applicants with a clear indication of the range of activities that may affect tāngata whenua interests. Where appropriate, Dunedin City Council also encourages applicants to consult with tāngata whenua, through Kai Tahu ki Otago Ltd, before lodging an application. The Council and Kai Tahu ki Otago Ltd hold regular meetings, to confirm issues and identify emerging issues. Other issues of concern to tāngata whenua are discussed between the Council and the applicant at pre-application stage.

Identifying whether tāngata whenua should be notified about resource consent applications, or consulted

Ashburton District Council has an agreement to send all notified resource consent applications and a summary of all consents received (notified, limited notified and non-notified) to the Rūnanga Committee. During its annual meeting, the Committee identifies the types of application it is most likely to have concerns with and relays this back to the Council. This enables the Council to keep the agreement current and reduce the amount of applications the Committee needs to receive. The Rūnanga have made it clear to Council that they do not want to be involved in all consents. Receiving and commenting on the summary of non-notified consents also gives the Committee the opportunity to advise the Council of the types of applications it would prefer to be involved with.

Means of making tāngata whenua aware of consents of interest

Both parties to the resource consent protocol between Kai Tahu ki Otago Ltd and the Dunedin City Council have found that it works very well in highlighting the consents of interest to tāngata whenua. This protocol forms a subset of the Memorandum of Understanding that Dunedin City Council has with the Papatipu Rūnanga.
The Council's planning team has established a weekly face-to-face meeting (if required) with Kai Tahu ki Otago Ltd, where a list of current consents is presented and any consents of interest discussed with the planners. This helps to alleviate tāngata whenua concerns and develops a greater understanding of the type of issues tāngata whenua may be interested in.

Conditions of consent for sites of significance

Gore District Council has developed a standard condition in conjunction with Te Ao Marama Inc, as representatives of Murihuku tāngata whenua:

If kōiwi (human skeletal remains) are discovered, then work shall stop immediately and Te Ao Marama Inc (Ngāi Tahu (Murihuku) Resource Management Consultants) will be advised. They will arrange a site inspection by the appropriate tāngata whenua and their advisors, including statutory agencies, which will determine whether the discovery is likely to be extensive and whether a thorough site investigation is required. Materials discovered will be handled and removed by iwi responsible for the tikanga appropriate to their removal or preservation. Taonga or artefact material other than kōiwi will be treated in a similar manner so that their importance can be determined and the environment recorded by qualified archaeologists alongside the appropriate tāngata whenua.

Tāngata whenua involvement in RMA monitoring

Environment Canterbury involves tāngata whenua in RMA monitoring of instream flows and effects on cultural values, and for cultural impact assessments for resource consents. Chapter Two of the proposed Natural Resources Regional Plan specifies certain types of monitoring where tāngata whenua should be involved.

Statutory Acknowledgement Register

Environment Canterbury 's resource consent database is easily searched to determine the number of resource consents that affect a Statutory Acknowledgement area. The database also has a flag reference system, which alerts staff when an application is received within a Statutory Acknowledgement area. The flagging system is part of a geographical information system.

Environment Canterbury also forwards all resource consent applications for activities within, adjacent to, or impacting on Statutory Acknowledgement areas to Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. This is specifically identified on Environment Canterbury 's website.

Gore District Council's resource consent database is also easily searched to determine the number of resource consents that affect a Statutory Acknowledgement area. This database records information on consents lodged since January 1999, which affect a Statutory Acknowledgement.

Appendix 2, Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act, of the Gore District Plan contains extracts from the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998, and includes the Statutory Acknowledgments.

Recording Ngāi Tahu as affected party within Statutory Acknowledgement areas

Otago Regional Council maintains records of the number of applications that affect a Statutory Acknowledgement Area and, of these, where the iwi was considered to be an affected party and written approvals were required. The Council and Kai Tahu ki Otago Ltd have a formal agreement through a Memorandum of Understanding, which specifically addresses consultation with iwi and promotes pre-application contact.

Public information on consultation with Tāngata whenua

Dunedin City Council encourages applicants to undertake pre-application consultation with Kāi Tahu ki Otago Ltd. Their iwi consultation brochure highlights the key interests of tāngata whenua. This brochure also reflects the Council's commitments through the resource consent protocol with Kāi Tahu ki Otago Ltd. The brochure is amended when the protocol is amended. The Consultation Guidelines and Policy also provides guidance on how the Dunedin City Council will consult. These documents were last updated in November 2005 and are available to the public on the internet.

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