Opinion: Ōtaki River key focus of museum exhibition

At Nga Manu, from left, K Gurunathan, Terisa Ngobi, Bernie Wanden and Rachel Brooking.

Weekly column by Kāpiti mayor K Gurunathan.

Ko Ōtaki te awa.
Ko Ōtaki te kainga.

That's the title of the current exhibition being held by the Ōtaki Museum Trust in partnership with Nga Hapu o Ōtaki and Friends of the Ōtaki River.

The exhibit, which means 'Ōtaki is the river, Ōtaki is the home', comes at a critical time when council is consulting our communities on two important and related matters, our proposed growth strategy and our open spaces strategy.

The museum, by focusing on stories connected with the river, reveals the history of Ōtaki's growth. Without the river there would be no Ōtaki township. In a sense it captures the concept of a catchment based development strategy.

Growth should not outstrip the ability of the natural environment to support it. Many would remember the successful fight put up by Otaki about 20 years ago against a proposal by KCDC to pipe the water from the Ōtaki River to support the development of Paraparaumu, Waikanae and Raumati.

At the opening of the exhibition, on November 4, I reminded those present the importance of writing a submission to the proposed growth strategy to ensure the local community helps shape the type of growth it wants.

On October 30 I was at Otaraua Park on the southern bank of the Waikanae River for the early morning official opening of the environmental learning hub and nursery.

The environmental arm of local iwi Te Atiawa ki Whakarongotai was working with environmental consultants Groundtruth to merge indigenous knowledge with traditional Western science to help with the restoration of the Waikanae River. Groundtruth will upskill up to 92 workers and supervise planting works.

The project is part of the Jobs for Nature grant of $8.5 million over four years through the Department of Conservation.

The success of this bid was founded on the Waikanae ki Uta ki Tai (Mountains to the Sea) programme initiated in 2019 with funding from DoC.

Again, my message at the opening was the need to ensure that urban growth does not outstrip the capacity of the natural environment.

We are reminded that the Waikanae River supplies the residents and businesses of Waikanae, Paraparaumu and Raumati. The restoration of the Waikanae River catchment should be the direct responsibility of the benefiting residents and businesses.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realise there is a living relationship between the river and the people within its supply catchment. You could say "Ko Waikanae te awa, Ko Waikanae/Paraparumu/Raumati te kainga".

On November 3, I was at Nga Manu with three councillors (councillors Handford, Halliday and Holborow) to meet Labour MP Rachel Brooking. Also present was Horowhenua's mayor Bernie Wanden.

The deputy chair of the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Environment was visiting the electorate of Ōtaki MP Terisa Ngobi. Ms Brooking is involved with the current reform of the RMA. We did ask some serious questions about what the government was doing in the climate change area.

The question I asked? I quoted activist Greta Thunberg when, in response to the global leaders discussions in Glasgow, she said it was all "blah ... blah ... blah." I noted my cynical observation that the big political powers will predictably do bugger all to reduce emissions.

So we should be investing more in adaptation to manage the increasing climate change impacts. And why was it that our Climate Change Commission has released its recommendations on mitigation but has still to release its recommendations on adaptation measures?

In the meantime, coastal councils wanting to manage coastal development using the science of sea level rise are being challenged by property owners using separately sourced science.

Without government legislative backing councils are facing court battles and piecemeal case law overriding good planning and policy. Ms Brooking had no current advice to give.