Waipā District Council appoints three mana whenua representatives

Waipā District Council appointed its new Te Kanohi mana whenua representatives this week.

The voices of mana whenua in the Waipā district have been reinforced after the local council filled three of four Te Kanohi positions.

Te Kanohi are mana whenua representatives who have been sitting on the Strategic Planning and Policy Committee, Service Delivery Committee, Finance and Corporate Committee and Regulatory Committee since 2019 to bring a Māori worldview to the committees and to be a voice for mana whenua interests across the district.

In March this year, the appointments were put on hold by Waipā District Council because of the Māori ward byelection after the resignation of previous councillor Takena Stirling.

New Māori ward councillor Dale-Maree Morgan was elected in June and has helped with the Te Kanohi appointment process.

Previous Te Kanohi Bill Harris has been appointed to the Strategic Planning and Policy Committee, Hinerangi Kara will sit on the Service Delivery Committee and Thomas Lord has been appointed to the Regulatory Committee. All three have voting rights on their committee.

No one has expressed an interest in the Finance and Corporate Committee, leaving that position unfilled.

Harris, Kara and Lord will attend their first committee meetings this month.