Robyn Bargh chairwoman of Te Runanga o Ngāti Kearoa-Ngāti Tuara
Almost seven decades after Rotorua's council forced an iwi to sell its land so it could be used to provide the city with water, the council has gone "some way to healing the grievances of the past".
In 1954 the then Rotorua Borough Council approached Ngāti Kearoa-Ngāti Tuara, the traditionalowners of the Karamu–Takina Spring at Tihiotonga, to provide water to the city. The iwi agreed but asked the land be leased, not bought.
Council officers insisted the land be bought but agreed the iwi could have one free connection to the pipeline.
However, between 2002 and 2014 the council charged the owners more than $125,000 in water rates.
The council continued to acquire land around the springs, ending with 5.99 hectares taken from the block formerly known as Tihiotonga A.
The spring is culturally and spiritually important to Ngāti Kearoa-Ngāti Tuara, and a defining part of their identity.
Robyn Bargh chairwoman of Te Runanga o Ngāti Kearoa-Ngāti Tuara. Photo / Ben Fraser
Now, 68 years later, the Rotorua Lakes Council Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee has recommended the council endorse entering into a proposed Heads of Agreement with Ngāti Kearoa-Ngāti Tuara to establish a new partnership approach to managing Karamu-Takina Spring.
It would include returning the lands to a new trust including Ngāti Kearoa-Ngāti Tuara people and repaying the water rates the council incorrectly charged - $161,027.41 once adjusted for inflation.
The agreement would allow the council to continue to take and distribute water from the spring, which supplies about 90 per cent of Rotorua's water. The trust and council will jointly apply for new consents ahead of their 2026 expiry.
The agreement would, according to the agenda, "better enable effective working relationships with mana whenua and will better enable [the] council to deliver good infrastructure outcomes for the community as a whole".
The costs associated with the Heads of Agreement would be about $240,000 including reimbursing the water rates charged between 2002 and 2014 totalling $161,027.41, a $60,000 contribution to support the preparation of a written history of the spring, up to $20,000 in transfer costs, and the cost of providing safe pedestrian access and carparking to Tarewa Pounamu Marae and new signage at the springs acknowledging Ngāti Kearoa-Ngāti Tuara.
Karamu-Takina Spring supplies about 90 per cent of Rotorua's water. Photo / Ben Fraser
Robyn Bargh chairwoman of Te Runanga o Ngāti Kearoa-Ngāti Tuara told the committee the iwi had "felt the pain of this decision ever since" it was made.
"Today you are being asked to make a landmark decision. A decision to work in partnership with Ngāti Kearoa-Ngāti Tuara in the co-management of the Karamu–Takina Spring.
"Council requires access to the Karamu–Takina Spring but it does not require ownership per se of the land.
"We come to this Heads of Agreement arrangement with the spirit and values of our tūpuna in mind. We are kind and generous, probably too much so, and we're willing to support the council but we must retain our mana whenua over our land and resources for future generations."
Bargh said an agreement ensuring mana whenua [rights] of the land for iwi and securing community supply was the best way forward.
At the meeting, mayor Steve Chadwick said the history was "really sad" but she was proud of the committee's recommendation, labelling it a "historic day".
"I hope that [Thursday's] resolution ... goes some way to healing the grievances of the past."
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, who chairs the committee, said "I'm pleased we are going some way to right what I think is a past wrong".
"These were your lands, your spring, and we should never forget that."
The committee also recommended the council resolve to start the process of revoking the reserve status of Pururu Reserve South, vest land formerly known as Pururu North Reserve in a new trust for the benefit of Tarewa Pounamu marae and vest the listed land taken from Tihi-o-tonga A in a new trust for the benefit of Ngāti Kearoa-Ngāti Tuara.
This is land previously taken from the iwi.
Bargh told the Rotorua Daily Post after the meeting the move was "really significant".
She said it had been a long time coming. The iwi started looking at the history about 15 years ago and talking to the council in about 2011.
"We weren't quite sure what had happened but we just felt the pain.
Robyn Bargh chairwoman of Te Runanga o Ngāti Kearoa-Ngāti Tuara. Photo / Ben Fraser
"We started looking into it and thought oh my God ... We unveiled the history.
"It's been a long process and it's great to get closer to fruition today ... It's a very big thing for us."
Bargh said she thought it was good Rotorua could have these conversations, and many councillors did not know the history either.
"Our grandparents at the time in the 1950s were open to supporting the growing town ... But that didn't mean they expected their resources to be taken from them."
The high-volume spring is at the foot of the Tihiotonga hills and feeds into the Utuhina Stream.
Bargh said the Pururu Reserves land had previously been gifted to the council and local tennis club but the playground there had since been decommissioned.
"We thought given we were going through this process couldn't that be gifted back as well."
According to a sign at the springs, they discharge 42,800 cubic metres of water daily.
