Friday marks a significant milestone for Rotorua and Te Arawa.
When members of the Rotorua Lakes Council and Te Arawa sign a memorandum of understanding this week, it will officially mark the start of a new partnership.
After much fiery debate, Te Tatau o Te Arawa Board will soon bea reality.
The board will be the new voice for Te Arawa on the council, taking the place of the now defunct Te Arawa standing committee.
For years Te Arawa has felt their representation on the council was lip service. They felt the standing committee had no political teeth and felt they needed to propose a new partnership model to the council. It's apt it will be signed on Friday - exactly a year to the day the proposal was presented to the council.
This year, 2839 Te Arawa voters ticked their favourite representatives who will make up the new board of 14 members.
While it might not seem like many voters, compare that to the 50 to 150 voters who would turn out to pick their favourite people for the standing committee.
Already the board is being touted as a success by Te Arawa. It looks promising. The list of names of those who will represent the iwi is impressive. These are the names of doers, not talkers. They are highly educated, highly experienced and are current movers and shakers among Te Arawa. They are also the new generation of leaders for the iwi.
There has been much hoopla about the board. The opposers have fought tooth and nail to stop it, saying it's undemocratic to have people on the council with voting rights who have not been elected by the city.
Their arguments have been heard and the decision has been made to proceed.
