Iwi interested in shared control of park

Auckland iwi want a say in managing the city's biggest park in the Waitakere Ranges as part of Treaty settlement agreements.

The idea of co-management of Auckland Centennial Park was rejected outright yesterday by Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee.

However, Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey said iwi would be a "perfect partner" and raised the prospect of more tourism based on the ranges.

Mr Lee said shared control was "an awful hint" that Government would try to use public land as a lever to help crack Treaty deals.

A letter to him from Treaty Settlements Minister Christopher Finlayson began as an update on Treaty settlement negotiations, where iwi are being offered ownership of the volcanic cones in Auckland.

Under the terms, the Crown will transfer ownership to a new collective body representing iwi called Nga Mana Whenua o Tamaki Makaurau, which will hold titles in trust for all Aucklanders.

The volcanic cones (maunga) will then be co-governed by a statutory board with equal membership from the Auckland Council and Tamaki collective, with the council retaining financial control.

Mr Lee said he was surprised to see a three-line reference to the Centennial Park "tucked in at the tail" of the letter.

Mr Finlayson wrote that Ngati Whatua o Orakei and Te Kawerau a Maki would like their Treaty agreements in principle to "signal the possibility of exploring" whether the joint-management model proposed for the volcanic cones could be applied to Centennial Park.

Such a model would not include transfer of ownership to a new collective body.

Mr Finlayson wrote that the council's support would greatly assist the Crown in providing key redress to Treaty claimants.

But Mr Lee was adamant the ARC would not support the idea.

"The ARC has direct responsibility for the regional parks service and we will not stand by and allow the parks to be carved up and handed over as a Treaty settlement.

"It is the people's land and belongs to all and is controlled in a democratic way, which is accountable to all Aucklanders.

"Presumably, they are talking about a parallel management. So, who pays for all that? It's unacceptable."

A spokesman for the minister said the Crown saw local government land as private and would not include it as a Treaty offer without first getting council agreement.

Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey said Te Kawerau a Maki had shown "absolute commitment" to sustainability of the ranges and was a critical partner of councils in lobbying for the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act, which was passed only in 2008.

"The iwi have been good joint custodians of the ranges. We will need wise management as tourism develops and they will be rangers and guides on the Hillary Trail.

Iwi spokespeople were unavailable for comment.

Te Kawerau a Maki is represented at the park's Arataki Visitor Centre by pou, or carved poles, which are a prominent and much-photographed feature at the centre's entrance. The ARC is spending $230,000 on a replacement for a rotten pou.


Auckland Centennial Park:

* Established in 1941 to commemorate the centenary of the metropolitan district of Auckland and includes land both donated and bought by public money.

* Part of the ARC controlled 17,000ha Waitakere Ranges Regional Park.

* Lies within the rohe of both Te Kawerau a Maki and Ngati Whatua.

* Te Kawerau a Maki inherited the role of kaitiaki, or guardians.

* Under the Treaty, council administration is required to "recognise and provide for, as a matter of national importance, the significant relationship of Maori and their culture and traditions with ancestral lands, water, wahi tapu and other taonga".