The Ngāti Oneone "reclamation of whenua movement" hīkoi on May 5. Pictured are Ngāti Oneone supporters and Te Aitanga a Māhaki lead negotiator Willie Te Aho (front right).
A Gisborne iwi has pledged $5 million of its future Treaty settlement for the management of the local Titirangi Reserve and harbour area in the names of Ngāti Oneone and Te Whānau-a-iwi.
Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki has pledged to create the $5m endowment fund in response to Ngāti Oneone’s movement to have ancestral land returned.
The pledge would also seek a co-funding arrangement with either the district council or the Crown to match the iwi/hapū investment.
Speaking with Local Democracy Reporting, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki lead negotiator Willie Te Aho said the pledge was part of a commitment to kaitiakitanga (co-governance/co-management).
“It’s a combined approach. It was never just about the reclamation of land. It was about being treated with better respect in relation to Titirangi and the moana to what has been done to date,” he said.
Te Aho said any land passing through the district council had to be bought and they were considering establishing the endowment fund to care for the resources.
Ngāti Oneone’s movement “reclamation of whenua” has called on the council, Trust Tairāwhiti and Eastland Port to return ancestral lands not used for core business.
As part of the movement, the hapū has kept a fire burning for more than 150 days and its online petition had gained 5939 signatures as of Monday afternoon.
At an August council meeting, councillors unanimously agreed to adopt a statement of intent that identified eight parcels of land prioritised by the hapū for potential return.
The statement committed the council to investigate the land parcels in partnership with the hapū, explore options such as transfers, vesting, leases, or co-governance, and ensure that wider manu whenua interests were engaged and aligned with the council’s statutory obligations.
The eight parcels of land span less than 10ha in the Kaiti area and include three lots opposite the marae on Ranfurly St (designated as a recreation reserve), Gisborne Yacht Club at 8 Titirangi Drive and three lots on Cambridge Tce (designated as a recreation reserve), a council report said.
Te Aho said, looking at the eight pieces of land in the context of the over 300 council-owned parcels in Ngāti Oneone’s area of interest, they had only gone for the titles that had significant importance to the marae and people.
At a council meeting on Thursday, Te Aho said: “We’re not in here to say, ‘the council should foot this’. We are here to say we want to look at co-investment because we care about the moana, we care about the maunga.
“Our chairman of Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki has said, with the support of Te Whānau-a-iwi, that we will work on our settlement to ensure that there is funding to fulfil our kaitiaki responsibilities going forward.”
Before the council adopted the statement of intent, a Ngāi Tāwhiri representative told the council that within the area there were acknowledged interests of Ngāti Oneone, Ngāi Tāwhiri (of Rongowhakaata) and Te Whānau-a-iwi (of Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki), with the mana whenua being held in Kaiti by Ngāti Oneone.
Thursday’s meeting report said it was important to understand this position was agreed to by the parties and legally reflected in the Rongowhakaata deed of settlement, which included Ngāi Tāwhiri.
Ngāti Oneone had engaged with both hapū through their mandated entities and conversations had progressed well, the report read.
In the interest of working in “genuine partnership”, Ngāti Oneone had sought “support for all council titles and Eastland Port titles that have been purchased and agreed to be vested in Te Poho o Rawiri Marae Reservation Incorporation”.
They had also sought agreement in principle to change the charter of Te Poho o Rawiri Marae Reservation Incorporation, according to the report.
The changes would include having three representatives from Ngāti Oneone, one representative appointed by Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Porou and confirmed by Ngāti Oneone (through the Rohenga Tipuna 7 representatives), one representative appointed from Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki Trust and confirmed by Te Whānau-a-iwi, one representative appointed by Tāmanuhiri Tutu Poroporo Trust, and one representative appointed by Rongowhakaata Iwi Trust and confirmed by Ngāi Tāwhiri.
At the meeting, Te Aho said: “So when people note that this could be contested, it is going into a corporation that the property must be held with the common use and benefit of all those groups.”
Additionally, the meeting report said co-management arrangements were sought by Ngāti Oneone through a Roopu Tiaki Moana for the harbour in conjunction with Trust Tairāwhiti.
They also sought a Tītirangi Ropu Tiaki for Tītirangi Maunga in conjunction with the council, with representatives from Ngāti Oneone, Ngāi Tāwhiri and Te Whānau-a-iwi.
Ngāti Oneone also wanted co-development opportunities, which would mean if Trust Tairāwhiti offered Ngāti Oneone any joint development opportunities to invest in or redevelop any of their property, the offer would be extended to Te Whānau-a-iwi and Ngāi Tāwhiri, according to the report.