Agenda of Maori Committee

Meeting of the Hawke's Bay Regional Council Maori Committee

Date: Wednesday 8 July 2020

Time: 10.00am

Venue:

Council Chamber

Hawke's Bay Regional Council

159 Dalton Street

NAPIER

Agenda

Item Title Page

1. Welcome/Notices/Apologies

2. Conflict of Interest Declarations

3. Alternate Members for 8 July 2020 Meeting 3

4. Confirmation of Minutes of the Maori Committee held on 6 May 2020

5. Follow-ups from Previous Māori Committee Meetings 5

6. Take Ripoata ā Takiwā – Taiwhenua Representatives' Updates 11

7. HBRC Chair's Verbal Update on Current Issues

8. Call for Minor Items Not on the Agenda 23

Information or Performance Monitoring

9. HBRC's 2020-25 Strategic Plan 25

10. Scheme Ecological Management and Enhancement Plans- Braided River Bird Census 45

11. July 2020 Statutory Advocacy Update 49

12. Discussion of Minor Matters Not on the Agenda 59

Parking

1. Free 2-hour on-road parking is available on Vautier Street adjacent to the HBRC Building & on Raffles Street.

2. There is free all day parking further afield – on Munroe Street or Hastings Street by Briscoes.

3. There are limited parking spaces (3) for visitors in the HBRC car park – entry off Vautier Street – it would be appropriate that the “visitors” parks be available for the members travelling distances from Wairoa and CHB.

4. If you do pay for parking elsewhere, please provide your receipt to the Receptionist for reimbursement – or include with your expenses claim for the meeting.

NB: Any carparks that have yellow markings are NOT to be parked in please.

HAWKE’S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL

Māori Committee

Wednesday 08 July 2020

SUBJECT: Follow-ups from Previous Māori Committee Meetings

Reason for Report

1. Attachment 1 lists items raised at previous meetings that require follow-up, who is responsible, when it is expected to be completed and a brief status comment. Once the items have been reported to the Committee they will be removed from the list.

Decision Making Process

2. Staff have assessed the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to this item and have concluded that, as this report is for information only, the decision making provisions do not apply.

Recommendation

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

Authored by:

Annelie Roets

Governance Administration Assistant

Approved by:

Pieri Munro

Te Pou Whakarae

Attachment/s

⇩1

Follow-ups from Previous Meetings

HAWKE’S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL

Māori Committee

Wednesday 08 July 2020

Subject: Take Ripoata ā Takiwā – Taiwhenua Representatives' Updates

Reason for Report

1. This item provides the opportunity for representatives of the four Taiwhenua (Te Whanganui-a-Orotū, Tamatea, Wairoa/Kahungunu Executive and Heretaunga) to raise current issues of interest in their rohe for discussion as per the reports attached.

Decision Making Process

Recommendation

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

Authored by:

Te Wairama Munro

Maori Engagement Coordinator

Approved by:

Pieri Munro

Te Pou Whakarae

Attachment/s

⇩1	Whanganui-A-Orotu (Ahuriri) taiwhenua report
⇩2	Kahungunu Executive taiwhenua report
⇩3	Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga
⇩4	Wairoa taiwhenua report

HAWKE’S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL

Māori Committee

Wednesday 15 July 2020

Subject: Call for Minor Items Not on the Agenda

Reason for Report

1. This item provides the means for committee members to raise minor matters they wish to bring to the attention of the meeting.

2. Hawke’s Bay Regional Council standing order 9.13 states:

2.1. “A meeting may discuss an item that is not on the agenda only if it is a minor matter relating to the general business of the meeting and the Chairperson explains at the beginning of the public part of the meeting that the item will be discussed. However, the meeting may not make a resolution, decision or recommendation about the item, except to refer it to a subsequent meeting for further discussion.”

Recommendations

3. That the Māori Committee accepts the following “Minor Items Not on the Agenda” for discussion as Item 12

Topic	Raised by

Leeanne Hooper

GOVERNANCE LEAD

James Palmer

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

HAWKE’S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL

Māori Committee

Wednesday 08 July 2020

Subject: HBRC's 2020-25 Strategic Plan

Reason for Report

1. This item presents Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s recently adopted Strategic Plan 2020-2025 to close the loop on early input from the Māori Committee and to demonstrate how that input has shaped the final Strategy.

Background

2. The Strategic Plan is a non-statutory document to define the organisation HBRC aspires to be and sets the organisation’s objectives for the next five years and beyond. It provides the strategic direction leading into the Long Term Plan (LTP).

3. A light review or refresh of the Strategic Plan 2017-21 was initiated after the election of the new council and Māori Committee in October 2019. It was agreed that a refresh was appropriate to inform the next LTP as the Plan is a five year strategy document and we are only mid-way through, it has strong support from staff, there has been no material change to our largely statutory functions, and that an extensive review of the Strategic Plan would compress subsequent phases of the 2021-31 LTP’s development.

4. Inputs into the refresh have included:

4.1. Priorities raised by new and returning councillors at the strategic planning workshop at East Pier on 21 November 2019

4.2. A review of what has changed in the macro-environment since the Strategic Plan was adopted three years ago

4.3. Feedback from discussion and the “bus stop” exercise held at the council workshop on 11 February 2020

4.4. Feedback from discussion and the “bus stop” exercise held at the Māori Committee on 4 March 2020

4.5. Presentation to the Council on key themes arising from the Māori Committee on 11 March 2020

4.6. Work done on the Climate. Smart. Recovery Plan related to the Covid-19 pandemic

4.7. Feedback on the designed version with additions post COVID-19 at the Council workshop on 17 June 2020.

5. General feedback received from the Māori Committee on 4 March 2020 included:

5.1. Support for the use of “resilience” in our vision and greater reference to climate change in the document to reflect the Council’s climate change emergency declaration.

5.2. Proposing a change to the vision statement to emphasise a prosperous community not just economy (to address inequality).

5.3. Support for climate change as an overarching umbrella over the four pillars (land, water, biodiversity and infrastructure/services) and not a fifth pillar.

5.4. Support for bringing forward aspirational targets.

5.5. The need for milestones along the way to achieving longer term goals and use of progress indicators that are relevant to Māori

6. A number of wording changes were also made to the “Our Strategic Outcomes, Goals and Actions” section of the Plan as a result of the Māori Committee’s feedback.

7. As this is a non-statutory document primarily for an internal audience and a refresh rather than a re-write significance was assessed as low therefore no general community engagement was deemed necessary.

Final Strategic Plan 2020-2025

8. The council adopted the final Strategic Plan on 24 June 2020. Notable changes made to the Strategic Plan included:

8.1. More explicitly infusing climate change throughout the document to reflect the accelerating political and community expectations for climate change action. It was agreed that climate change is a pervasive driver across all council’s activities and is now explicitly reflected in the vision and focus areas and a new row was added in the intervention logic matrix to describe how each focus area relates to climate change.

8.2. Acknowledging the contextual effect of COVID-19 and an extended drought, and a Climate. Smart. Recovery. being the response to subsequent economic conditions.

8.3. Further refining council’s vision to focus on the environment and people.

8.4. Aligning targets for freshwater quantity and quality limits, stock exclusion and farm plans to new national targets set in the Government’s Freshwater Reform Package.

8.5. Aligning the carbon neutrality target to the national target of 2050 and reduce the deadline for HBRC to confirm it is carbon zero to 2025.

8.6. Explicitly referencing the kaitiakitanga role of tāngata whenua and cultural connection with water.

8.7. Renewed focus on water security (vs water certainty) in light of climate change.

8.8. Clarifying HBRC’s role in goals that require a joined-up approach, e.g. carbon neutrality, coastal hazards etc.

8.9. Removing the numbering of the focus areas and noting that each pillar has equal weighting.

Next Steps

9. The Strategic Plan will be used to prioritise business proposals for the 2021-31 Long Term Plan development. Council staff are currently designing an engagement process to seek early input from Tāngata Whenua partners to inform the prioritisation.

Decision Making Process

10. Staff have assessed the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to this item and have concluded that, as this report is for information only, the decision making provisions do not apply.

Recommendation

That the Māori Committee receives and notes the “HBRC’s 2020-25 Strategic Plan” staff report.

Authored by:

Desiree Cull

Strategy and Projects Leader

Approved by:

Ceri Edmonds

Acting Group Manager Strategic Planning

Attachment/s

⇩1

HBRC Strategic Plan 2020-25

HAWKE’S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL

Māori Committee

Wednesday 08 July 2020

Subject: Scheme Ecological Management and Enhancement Plans- Braided River Bird Census

Reason for Report

1. This report summarises ecology results from river bird census carried out over Tutaekuri, Ngaruroro and Tukituki (and its tributaries) as part of the Ecological Management and Enhancement Plan (EMEP) effectiveness monitoring.

Executive Summary

2. HBRC has dual statutory obligations concerning braided rivers to:

2.1. protect the region from flooding events, and

2.2. maintain the ecological integrity of braided rivers.

3. An EMEP has been developed for Tutaekuri, Ngaruroro and Tukituki rivers, which enables HBRC to avoid or mitigate any potential adverse impacts of flood protection activities on braided rivers, including specific protocols for braided river birds such as banded dotterel and black-billed gull. EMEP also provides for enhancement options so that HBRC achieves no-net loss and net-gain to maintain the health of braided rivers.

4. Braided river birds, the majority of which are classified as ‘Threatened’ or ‘At-Risk’, are subject to direct (e.g. beach raking) and indirect (weed invasion, predation, and mostly likely climate change) anthropogenic impacts as well as natural disturbance (e.g. flooding). Therefore, they are determined as good indicators of the effectiveness of the EMEP.

5. Wildlife Management International Ltd was contracted to lead the survey in November 2019 to count all species encountered on Tutaekuri, Ngaruroro, and Tukituki (including Mangaonuku, Waipawa, Tukipo, and Makaretu). The survey was designed so that resulting data would be spatially explicit and informative for identifying ‘hotspots’ of birds.

6. Total number of banded dotterel (Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable) counted across the survey area is 2308 banded dotterel, which amounts to 12% of its global population. According to the ranking of 119 braided rivers for their banded dotterel population size, Tukituki, Ngaruroro and Tutaekuri rivers support second, third and twelfth most population size in the country.

7. The survey also provided an indication that banded dotterel has shown no obvious decline on HB rivers since 1960s, despite nationally it is declining at an alarming rate (estimated decline of 50% every 20 years or 3 generations of the bird).

8. Given that only braided rivers that have not experienced the significant decline of this species are Greater Wellington Region and Hawke’s Bay, there is circumstantial evidence that flood protection activities (e.g. beach raking) which result in creating open gravel habitat is likely to have neutral or positive impacts on braided river birds.

9. As for the distribution of banded dotterel, several segments of rivers were emerged as seemingly hotspots, including lower reaches of Ngaruroro and Tukituki rivers. Tutaekuri supported reasonably high number of this species throughout.

10. It is intended that such census is to be done over three years consecutively to gain representative data on population size and trend, and spatial distribution of river birds. Therefore the 2019 results are baseline and conclusions are preliminary.

Strategic Fit

11. HBRC manages rivers and waterways with maintenance activities (beach raking, spraying and gravel extraction) which could potentially affect the bird life on the river bed. With implementation of the EMEP, collaboration with an ecologist and recognising regional biodiversity, results of the monitoring show that we do achieve the maintenance standard while protecting and enhancing the living species within these areas of the braided rivers.

12. The survey results will inform HBRC and the region of the state and trend of braided river birds which are indicators of the condition of braided river ecosystems, thus the regional biodiversity.

Background

13. The Ecological Management and Enhancement Plan (EMEP) provides detailed information on specific types and locations of ecological values of the Heretaunga Plains Flood Control Scheme (Scheme). It provides guidance on measures which should be taken to avoid inappropriate impacts through operation and maintenance of the Scheme. All work on the scheme is carried out in accordance with:

13.1. HBRC Environmental Code of Practice for River and Drainage Work 2017

13.2. River Specific- Ecological Management and Enhancement Plan.

14. The management plan sets our specific guidance for management of the Scheme activities to protect important ecological features of the Scheme. Examples are:

14.1. Protect specialist bird communities

14.2. Improve the Schemes terrestrial bird habitat

14.3. Contribute to the protection of high value forest remnants

14.4. Improve ecological function of edge protection and buffer zones

14.5. Minimise release of sediments to aquatic environment

14.6. Enhance the Schemes functional performance as a wildlife corridor.

15. The Scheme area encompasses a substantial area of braided riverbed, estuarine and coastal beach habitats. The Scheme’s berm and escapement contain large areas of exotics, grasses and other natives either for flood protection or biodiversity.

16. Many ecological features of the Schemes (Heretaunga and Tukituki Flood Protection Schemes) covered by the Ecological management and Enhancement Plans are “significant “in terms of Section 6(c) of the Resource Management Act 1991 (the RMA). Under the RMA, HBRC is required to “recognize and provide for the protection of areas of significant vegetation and significant habitats for indigenous fauna from inappropriate subdivision, use and development.

17. EMEP has been developed and implemented since 2011, 2015 and 2017 for Ngaruroro, Tutaekuri and Tukituki rivers, respectively. However, effectiveness monitoring had not been carried out for any of the rivers.

18. This 2019 survey forms a core part of the effectiveness monitoring concerning river birds, and is likely the most robust and extensive survey carried out across three of our major braided rivers in the Council’s history.

Next Steps

19. Census is planned for spring/summer 2020 and 2021 to provide comprehensive information on river birds from which inferences could be drawn for the effectiveness of EMEP.

20. The monitoring results will inform the review and improvement of the EMEPs.

Decision Making Process

21. Staff have assessed the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to this item and have concluded that, as this report is for information only, the decision making provisions do not apply.

Recommendation

That the Māori Committee receives and notes the “Scheme Ecological Management and Enhancement Plans- Braided River Bird Census” staff report.

Authored by:

Martina Groves

Acting Regional Asset Manager

Keiko Hashiba

Terrestrial Ecologist

Approved by:

Chris Dolley

Group Manager Asset Management

Iain Maxwell

Group Manager Integrated Catchment Management

Attachment/s

There are no attachments for this report.

HAWKE’S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL

Māori Committee

Wednesday 08 July 2020

Subject: July 2020 Statutory Advocacy Update

Reason for Report

1. To report on proposals forwarded to the Regional Council and assessed by staff acting under delegated authority as part of the Council’s Statutory Advocacy project.

2. The Statutory Advocacy project (Project 196) centres on resource management-related proposals upon which the Regional Council has an opportunity to make comments or to lodge a submission. These include, but are not limited to:

2.1. resource consent applications publicly notified by a territorial authority,

2.2. district plan reviews or district plan changes released by a territorial authority,

2.3. private plan change requests publicly notified by a territorial authority,

2.4. notices of requirements for designations in district plans,

2.5. non-statutory strategies, structure plans, registrations, etc prepared by territorial authorities, government ministries or other agencies involved in resource management.

3. In all cases, the Regional Council is not the decision-maker, applicant nor proponent. In the Statutory Advocacy project, the Regional Council is purely an agency with an opportunity to make comments or lodge submissions on others’ proposals. The Council’s position in relation to such proposals is informed by the Council’s own Plans, Policies and Strategies, plus its land ownership or asset management interests.

4. The summary outlines those proposals that the Council’s Statutory Advocacy project is currently actively engaged in. This period’s update report excludes the numerous Marine and Coastal Area Act proceedings little has changed since the previous update.

Decision Making Process

5. Staff have assessed the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to this item and have concluded that, as this report is for information only, the decision making provisions do not apply.

Recommendation

That the Māori Committee receives and notes the “July 2020 Statutory Advocacy Update” staff report.

Authored by:

Nichola Nicholson

Policy Planner

Ellen Robotham

Policy Planner

Approved by:

Ceri Edmonds

Acting Group Manager Strategic Planning

Attachment/s

⇩1