Tairāwhiti iwi split on Fast-track Approvals Bill impacts

Raukokore water supply - Jason Callaghan (Hapu Chair; Director, Raukokore River Water Limited; RRWL Maintenance); Alan Connolly (RRWL Director; CFO); Glenn Stirling (Director – land owner rep); Arihia Stirling (Land Owner Chair); Hon Tama Potaka; Clive Tilby (Company Chair); Jamie Arbuckle (NZ First List MP); Dana Kirkpatrick (National MP for East Coast); Brian Ellwood (RRWL Project Manager) and me. Water storage like this created in Ruakokore could be created here in Tairawhiti. Pictured at the opening are (from left) Te Whanau a Maruhaeremuri Hapu chair and Raukokore River Water Limited director Jason Callaghan, RRWL director Alan Connolly, landowner representative Glenn Stirling, landowner chair Arihia Stirling, Minister Tama Potaka, RRWL chair Clive Tilby, NZ First list MP Jamie Arbuckle, National MP for East Coast Dana Kirkpatrick, RRWL project manager Brian Ellwood and Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki chief executive Willie Te Aho.

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One iwi in Tairāwhiti is aiming to use the Fast-track Approvals Bill to help create housing and water storage while another opposes the bill in its current form.

This comes after it was revealed iwi and Māori organisations in Tairāwhiti were sent letters about the Fast-track Approvals (FTA) process from Resource Management Act Reform Minister Chris Bishop in early April.

Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki is supportive of the bill where there is no impact on Treaty of Waitangi and Rohe Moana settlements in Tūranga and Tairāwhiti.

However, Rongowhakaata Iwi Trust (RIT) says it opposes the current bill due to its disproportionate pro-development stance and concentration of power.

RIT, which made a submission on the bill, said it poses significant risks to te taiao (the environment) and threatens the customary rights, interests and responsibilities of Rongowhakaata uri (descendants), as well as their ability to exercise mana motuhake (self-determination) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship) within their rohe as guaranteed by Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“Regardless of current economic drivers, Rongowhakaata Iwi Trust will continue to prioritise our mana whenua identity, taiao and cultural values for future generations,” RIT kaihautū Teina Moetara said.

“The short-term decision-making that the FTA Bill fast-tracks will have long-term impacts for Rongowhakaata uri and whenua.

“RIT supports efficient, streamlined approval processes, but opposes the FTA Bill because it prioritises development over all else. “It is fundamentally flawed and inconsistent with our role as kaitiaki.”

Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki has not settled its historical Tiriti o Waitangi claims but is supportive of this mechanism for the other three iwi and the Rohe Moana, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki chief executive Willie Te Aho says.

“The specific fast-tracking that we support with the Gisborne District Council is for housing and water storage. They have added in roading and bridges, which we support as well as we have bridges still out in Te Kōwhai, Bruce Road and elsewhere in our rohe.”

Te Aho said he knew there was insufficient infrastructure from Kaiti to Sponge Bay to support major housing developments.

“We are supportive of fast-tracking to enable this to happen. Equally, as Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, we have been championing a 150-house wellness centre, Tūranga Tangata Rite, beside the Gisborne Hospital.

“We know that if we don’t have this type of acceleration, then there will be delays and costs.”

“Based on the Temporary housing (accommodation) regulations that were passed in August 2024 under Orders in Council, this approach to fast-tracking for these specific issues is supported by the Gisborne District Council because, through legislation, central government will be taking ultimate responsibility and liability for the fast-tracking and any unforeseen consequences of fas- tracking.” Along with housing, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki is the sole shareholder in Tūranga Waimāori Limited, which focuses on creating water storage options for Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki and Rongowhakaata landowners who cannot access reliable water.

“This is to irrigate 100 hectares of land on the Tūranga flats that have been identified as high-value horticulture,” he said.

In Ruakokore, Te Aho was a part of a water storage project that was opened earlier this month.

Others who were sent the FTA letter included Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Porou, Tāmanuhiri Tutu Poroporo Trust, Te Whānau a kai, six trusts formed under Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Porou and Ngā Uri o Tamanui Trust group 1 and group 2.

In relation to near Wairoa and Lake Waikaremoana, Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Trust, Ngāti Pāhauwera Development Trust, Ngati Pahauwera Tiaki Trust, Ngāti Ruapani mai Waikaremoana Negotiation Group — the tribal claimant community situated in and around the Lake Waikaremoana district — and Tūhoe Te Uru Taumatua (Ngāi Tūhoe) were sent letters.

HRM Associates, which Patricia Hekia Parata is named as director of in the New Zealand Companies Office companies register, was also sent a letter.

Bishop said having been sent this letter in no way guaranteed that an applicant would choose to submit a project into the new process, nor would it mean if they submitted a project that it would get preferential treatment.

The Expert Advisory Group application process closes on May 3.