MINUTES OF A meeting of the Māori Committee

 

Date:                          Wednesday 7 April 2021

Time:                          10.05am

Venue:

Council Chamber

Hawke's Bay Regional Council

159 Dalton Street

NAPIER

 

Present:                       M McIlroy (Wairoa) – Co-chair

M Paku (Heretaunga) – Co-chair

Cr R Barker

R Hiha (Te Whanganui-a-Orotū)

H Hilton (Heretaunga)

K Kawana (Wairoa) (from 1.51pm)

R Maaka (Tamatea)

A Robin (Te Whanganui-a-Orotū)

P Sciascia (Tamatea)

 

In Attendance:          K Brunton – Group Manager Policy and Regulation (from 10.36am)

I Maxwell – Group Manager Integrated Catchment Management      

P Munro – Te Pou Whakarae Māori Partnerships

N Blunden – Emergency Management Advisor - Planning

T Dawson, CE, Napier Port

D Fake – Freshwater Ecologist, HBRC

T-K Hawaikirangi – Napier Port

N Heath – Area Manager - Northern Hawke's Bay

I Macdonald – Group Manager/Group Controller

T-W Munro – Māori Engagement Coordinator

L Pearse – Team Leader Hazard Reduction HBCDEM

J Sutherland – Emergency Management Advisor Community Resilience

M Taiaroa – Senior Advisor

A Roets – Governance Advisor

 

 


1.      Welcome/Karakia /Apologies/Notices

The Chair, Mike Paku, welcomed everyone to the meeting with a mihi and Haami Hilton opened with a karakia.

MC11/21

Resolution

That the apologies for absence from Marei Apatu, Peter Eden, Bill Blake and councillors Rex Graham, Charles Lambert and Hinewai Ormsby and be accepted.  The absence of Zack Makoare was noted.

Barker/Sciascia

CARRIED

 

Pieri Munro, Te Pou Whakarae, Te Wairama Munro and Melanie Taiaroa led the group in singing Pū Rākau, the Waiata written for the Hawke’s Bay councils.

 

2.      Conflict of Interest Declarations

Michael Paku and Api Robin declared interests in Item 9 Whakatū Inland Port Development as they have been involved with community and mana whenua discussions.

There were no conflicts of interest declared.

 

3.

Alternate Members for 7 April 2021 Meeting

 

No alternatives were appointed for this meeting.

 

4.      Confirmation of Minutes of the Māori Committee meeting held on 10 February 2021

MC12/21

Resolution

Minutes of the Māori Committee meeting held on Wednesday, 10 February 2021, a copy having been circulated prior to the meeting, were taken as read and confirmed as a true and correct record.

Barker/Robin

CARRIED

 

5.

Take Ripoata Ā Takiwā – Taiwhenua Representatives' Updates

 

Wairoa Taiwhenua – Michelle McIllroy

·    Highlighted the hui held on Māori Constituencies on 29 March and were pleased with the representation on the night.  Disappointed that only one Councillor Charles Lambert attended.  Was expecting to have all Councillors present.

·    Copies of the Long Term Plan Consultation Document has been supplied to distribute in the Community. Working with community towards lodging a submission herein

·    NZ Māori  Council now have 9 Māori  Committees within the district. Had hui with lawyers on the current RMA and Water Commission

·    Michelle McIlroy and Katarina Kawana selected to the Matangirau Reserves Board and are currently working on the Terms of Reference for this Board

·    Other discussions included the Hinemihi Nursery 2021 Planting programme.

Te Taiwhenua o Tamatea – Dr Roger Maaka

·    Making progress with building relationships with Lake Whatūma landowners

·    Te Taiwhenua o Tamatea in support of establishing Māori constituencies

·    Māori Constituency hui will be held tomorrow, 8 April at Te Taiwhenua office in Waipukurau

·    Particular focus and interest in gravel extraction and river banks – will be asking Council around policies and rules for gravel extraction

·    issues of concern raised were consents and water security.

Te Whanganui a Orotu – Api Robin

·    Noted the current state of Whitebait stands in the Ngaruroro River – meeting has been scheduled on Monday, 19 April at 6pm at Clive Hall

·    Rose Hiha gave a brief update on the Māori constituencies hui held 6 April.  Was a good turnout with Councillors being present too.

Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga – Mike Paku

·    Concerns raised about the Global Gravel Extraction Consent

·    Looking forward in the outcome and rulings of the TANK Hearings process to further conversations

·    Congratulate HBRC for having the public submissions

·    Supporting all the conversations around the establishment of Māori constituencies and looking forward at the outcome of this.

MC13/21

Resolution

That the Māori Committee receives and notes the “Take Ripoata ā Takiwā – Taiwhenua reports”.

Robin/McIIroy

CARRIED

 

7.

Follow-ups from previous Māori Committee Meetings

 

Item 1, Putting up signs at popular shellfish gatherings sites:  Work in progress and underway.

Item 2, Schedule a wainanga with expert staff re the Kotahi Plan Change – looking at potential dates in June 2021.

Item 3, Explore opportunities to look at water allocation provisions for papakainga housing through TANK plan change:  Ceri Edmonds was not available to report on this item and will give an update at the next meeting.

Item 5, Nathan Heath to contact the Guardians of the Ruakituri River group to discuss mana whenua engagement and partnership in the initiative:  Meeting and discussions held. Already significant Tangata whenua engagement undertaken.  Important to note that the correct processes be followed to engage with tangata whenua..

Item 6, Request for working party to consider requirement for removal of whitebait stands:  Will be updated at the next meeting.

Item 7, Request for Council support to apply to the NZ Geographic Board to change the name of Clive River:  Will be updated at the next meeting.

Item 8, Report on Ahuriri chemical spill and potential impacts on Te Whanganui a Orotu Ahuriri Estuary:  Under investigation and collecting evidence.  HBRC has been working closely with NCC on the chemical spill.  Recurrent testing subsequent to the spill has been undertaken.  Reports and evidence collected indicated that the water has disbursed.  Still under investigation.

Item 9, Schedule a water allocation and consents wananga for Tamatea Taiwhenua and marae leaders:  The Group Manager is working closely with the Consents Team on renewable consents which is currently put on hold. Awaiting eagerly the outcome of the TANK Plan Change. No consents are being issued at this time and remains on hold. Once clear on the TANK Plan Change outcomes, a meeting will be held with Te Pou Whakarae to set up meetings with Taiwhenua.

Item 10, Information on potential impacts of HBRC Economic planning on tangata whenua and how KPIs for Māori employment are being met:  Will be reported on at the next meeting.

Item 11, Pakuratahi Awa – enter into discussions about river mouth opening to prevent flooding orchard developments:  Will be reported on at the next meeting.

Item 12, Follow-up with District Councils, through the joint councils Policy Group, about the concerns raised in relation to “failure to identify” wahi tapu adequately, including potential of Te Kupenga as a ‘register’ of sites of cultural significance and wahi tapu:  In progress

Item 13, Wairoa Taiwhenua Cultural Impact Report funded by HBRC 2019 to be completed and provided to Te Pou Whakarae:  Nathan Heath noted that the report is in its final draft.  Don’t anticipate taking any longer. Will be distributed once received.

MC14/21

Resolution

That the Māori Committee receives and notes the “Follow-up Items from Previous Meetings” report.

Sciascia/Maaka

CARRIED

 

8.

Call for Minor Items not on the Agenda

 

Recommendation

That the Māori Committee accepts the following “Minor Items Not on the Agenda” for discussion as Item 16.

 

Topic

Raised by

Newly installed toilets at the Freedom camping site below a site of significant Rangihoua

Michelle McIlroy

 

 

 

9.

Whakatū Inland Port Development Presentation from Te Kaha Hawaikirangi

 

Te Pou Whakarae, Pieri Munro welcomed Te Kaha Hawaikirangi and Todd Dawson, Chief Executive of Napier Port to the meeting. 

A presentation and update were given on the new Whakatū Inland Development project with discussions covering:

·        Napier Port is the third largest log export in New Zealand and forth largest port by container volume with around 670 ships per year and 5million tonnes of cargo per year

·        Key business strengths includes an established, long term infrastructure asset

·        Is the gateway by linking the region and surrounding regions to a global market

·        6 Wharf commenced expansionary project underway and due for completion end of 2022 which will enable the whole of New Zealand’s supply chain

·        Opportunities now to make improvements to the non-cost efficient supply chain in the Central Lower North Island and other networks

·        Hubs, like Whakatū are critical not only to benefit the region economically, but future-proof NZ’s supply chain

·        A proposal for a new development to create a 12 hectare offsite port in Whakatu to enable future growth of the region and the Port

·        Will increase imports and distribution locally and regionally and providing further employment and business creation opportunities in Hawke’s Bay

·        Significant benefit to the Whakatu Community and mana whenua which supports forestry, agriculture and fisheries and employment opportunities

·        Environmental benefits through the reduction of emissions and greater rail use

·        Committed to work with all stakeholders

·        Napier Port understands the importance to partner with and support mana whenua as part of the proposed development

·        Three hui’s have been held with the community, with the last being in March 2021

·        Provided Etu Whakatu community group with a summary of the project

·        An initial independent noise report has been produced for the Port by Marshall Day, an independent acoustic consultancy

·        Following the 3rd hui in March, Napier Port committed to develop a Cultural Impact Assessment Report, a community impact assessment, facilitate a number of port visits with iwi, mana whenua and the community, Design and draft consent application for Stormwater and Earthworks; Design visual effects drawings and Develop an inland port webpage on the Port’s web page

·        Request to have community engagement with local marae on updates on the Whakatu inland development

·        Te Whanganui a Orotu will be writing a letter to Napier Port with regards to the health of Pania Reef, the environmental effects and impact on the mussel and whether it directly relates to the Wharf 6 Development

·        The Port has an extensive programme underway with regards to the monitoring of the health of Pania Reef.

·        Napier Port will invite the Māori Committee members as well as the Regional Planning Committee members to the Marine Cultural Health Programm Launch on Wednesday, 14 April (Ref 1 in followups).

MC15/21

Resolution

That the Māori Committee receives the verbal  “Whakatū Inland Port Development Presentation by Te Kaha Hawaikirangi” verbal report.

Robin/McIIroy

CARRIED

 

12.

CDEM Tangata Whenua Engagement

 

Ian Macdonald gave a presentation on the item highlighting:

·        The current CDEM Act 2002 does not consider Te Tiriti and engagement with tangata whenua

·        Engagement with tangata whenua currently at an operational level (individual hapu on preparedness and the marae during an emergency)

·        Government announced a programme of Emergency Management System Reform in 2018

·        One reform was to provide greater recognition, understanding and integration of iwi/Māori perspectives and tikanga in emergency management before, during and after an event

·        Likely that tangata whenua will have representation on the CDEM Group Joint Committee and the CDEM Coordinating Executives Group

·        Recent events (Covid-19 and the Napier Rain Event) provided opportunities for partnership to be developed

·        Tangata whenua led responses to occur with the support of CDEM where appropriate

·        With the CDEM Group being a shared service across the five Hawke’s Bay councils, it has the responsibility to consider and put into effect the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi

·        Two interrelated workstreams for engagement and partnership which are Governance/Strategy and Operational readiness and response

·        Seeking the Māori Committee to confirm an approach to engaging and partnering with tangata whenua with regards to governance and strategic planning

·        Noting iwi response during the pandemic and the flooding event

·        Opportunity for CDEM to understand the networks, coordination and communication between the networks

·        Propose that a regional workshop be held to discuss options on CDEM engagement.

MC16/21

Resolution

That the Māori Committee receives and considers the “CDEM Tangata Whenua Engagement” report and associated request for advice on the engagement with tangata whenua on the review of the 5 year Group Plan.

McIIroy/Sciascia

CARRIED

 

11.

Verbal eDNA Water Sampling Presentation

 

Daniel Fake, Freshwater Ecologist gave a presentation on a new tool for biodiversity assessment (eDNA) with discussions covering:

·        Environmental DNA (eDNA) methods are used to detect DNA that is shed into the aquatic environment by cryptic or low density species and involves sampling water, soil and air

·        eDNA monitoring has been around for 30 years – recent developments in metabarcoding (2019) have led to it being more applicable for looking at community composition

·        Single and multi-species tests can be undertaken and will detect both near and far organisms

·        More info on results can be found at www.wilderlab.co.nz/explore

·        Will benefit applications such as NPS-FM Te Mana O Te Wai with emphasis on the location of habitats of threatened species.

·        Suggest that a short video and slides be added to the website explaining around eDNA sampling.

MC17/21

Resolution

That the Māori Committee receives and notes the verbal “eDNA Water Sampling Presentation”.

Sciascia/Hilton

CARRIED

 

The meeting adjourned at 12.51pm and reconvened at 1.26pm.

Katarina Kawana arrived at 1.51pm.

 

10.

Whakakī Catchment Pilot Project Case Studies and Findings

 

Nathan Heath delivered a presentation on the Whakaki Catchment Pilot study and highlighted some findings and lessons learnt to date.  Discussions covered:

·        Lake Whakaki is an iconic wetland at base of heavily eroding catchment and been a long standing issues with sediment and nutrients entering the waterway

·        Significant investigation and focus in how to address the eroding land

·        Community didn’t share the same vision and aspirations as HBRC for the area

·        Whakaki Cathment Pilot project was a joint initiative formed between WDC, MPI, HBRC and the local community

·        Embarked on 4-key process i.e co-design process, cultural impact assessment, farm planning and economic impact assessments

·        Key learnings from within the community were shared by all

·        Multiple benefits of taking a joint collaboration approach one of being building better relationships and understanding of the approach

·        Co-design process was continued within the upper catchment and in collaboration with landowners

·        Decision was then made to undertake farm plans throughout the catchment and later to investigate the financial implications of implementation of these plans

·        Farm plans were initially difficult to get wider farmer participation in – concerns around the ultimate purpose of the plan and a lack of experience themselves

·        Farmer workshop was held 3 months after plans were completed – significant support and enthusiasm from landowners who expressed their support

·        Three farms plans were selected for a more detailed case study looking at the farm business, cost implication and implementation of farm plans and meeting new freshwater reform requirements and Greenhouse gas obligations

·        Several future opportunities were identified through the project by one, linking farm plans to broader community aspirations and the potential for local employment.

MC18/21

Resolution:

That the Māori Committee receives and notes the good progress made on “Whakakī Catchment Pilot Project Case Studies and Findings” staff report.

McIIroy/Hilton

CARRIED

 

13.

Reports from Regional Council and Committee Meetings

 

The report was taken as read.

MC19/21

Resolution

That the Māori  Committee receives and notes the “Reports from Regional Council and Committee Meetings”.

Robin/Maaka

CARRIED

 

14.

Significant Organisational Activities Looking Forward Through April 2021

 

The report was taken as read.

MC20/21

Resolution

That the Māori Committee receives and notes the “Significant Organisational Activities Looking Forward through April 2021” staff report.

Barker/Kawana

CARRIED

 

15.

April 2021 Statutory Advocacy Update

 

The report was taken as read.

MC21/21

Resolution

That the Māori Committee receives the “April Statutory Advocacy” report.

Maaka/Hilton

CARRIED

 

6.

HBRC Chief Executive's verbal update on current Issues

 

The item was not considered.

 

16.

Discussion of Minor Items not on the Agenda

 

 

Topic

Raised by

Newly installed toilets at the Freedom camping site below a site of significant Rangihoua:

·        Concerns raised that there is no connection to the service line or the septic tank

·        Concerned it is too close to the waterways and estuary

·        Followup up required whether it needs consent – to be taken up with Wairoa District Council directly.

Michelle McIlroy

 

 

 

17.

Confirmation of the Public Excluded Minutes

MC22/21

Resolution

GENERAL SUBJECT OF THE ITEM TO BE CONSIDERED

REASON FOR PASSING THIS RESOLUTION

GROUNDS UNDER SECTION 48(1) FOR THE PASSING OF THE RESOLUTION

Long Term Plan 2021- 31 Development Update

s7(2)(i) That the public conduct of this agenda item would be likely to result in the disclosure of information where the withholding of the information is necessary to enable the local authority holding the information to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations)

The Council is specified, in the First Schedule to this Act, as a body to which the Act applies.

 

Barker/McIIroy

CARRIED

 

The meeting moved into public excluded session at 2.02pm

 

17.              Confirmation of the Public Excluded Minutes of the Māori Committee meeting held on 10 February 2021

MC23/21    Public Excluded Minutes of the Māori Committee meeting held on Wednesday, 10 February 2021, a copy having been circulated prior to the meeting, were taken as read and confirmed as a true and correct record.

Barker/McIlroy

CARRIED

Resolution

MC24/21    That the meeting moves out of public excluded session.

Barker/Maaka

CARRIED

 

The meeting moved out of public excluded session at 2.04pm

 

Haami Hilton led the offering of a karakia to close the meeting.

 

Closure:

There being no further business the Chair declared the meeting closed at 2.04 on Wednesday, 7 April 2021.

 

Signed as a true and correct record.

 

 

 

DATE: ................................................               CHAIRMAN: ...............................................