New partnership deal between Wellington City Council and iwi

The new Tākai Herei partnership between mana whenua and Wellington City Council was signed on Friday. Photo / Supplied

By Ashleigh McCaull of RNZ

Wellington City Council needs to acknowledge its past failures towards mana whenua to help build and strengthen its relationship moving ahead, a councillor says.

The call follows the signing of a new partnership agreement between Wellington City Council and mana whenua groups from Te Whanganui-A-Tara at Pipitea Marae on Friday.

Wellington mayor Andy Foster wouldn't say whether the council failed mana whenua in the past.

But councillor Jill Day, who descends from Ngāti Tūwharetoa, said it had.

"Yes, council has failed Māori and councils around Aoteatora have failed Māori.

"I have experience in my whānau of that, and I think it's really important that we do acknowledge that to move forward".

The treaty, named Tākai Here, sets a framework for ways the council and mana whenua groups will work together to benefit the city and the region.

Every three months council will meet with mana whenua - made up of leaders from Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira, Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika and Te Rūnanganui o Te Āti Awa.

They will help make decisions in a range of matters such as naming of streets to coming up with strategies to tackle homelessness.

Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira chair Callum Katene said Māori had fought for almost two centuries to get to this point.

"We've been largely ignored for a long period of time.

"It is wonderful that the wider community, as represented by the council, is willing to take a look at how Māori review the world and to include us in the decision-making and the decisions that have to be made for the good of the community."

The signing of Tākai Here comes 182 years after the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi at Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington Harbour.

Some of the major issues for mana whenua include housing and the environment.

During her speech Ngāti Toa Representative Liz Kelly spoke about the need for mana whenua to have a voice amongst the decision makers.

Wellington mayor Andy Foster signing the Tākai Here partnership with mana whenua. Photo / Supplied

She said she raised with Wellington City Council a report which revealed wastewater had been spilling into Wellington's harbour.

"This is not to happen. We can't just let wastewater and sewage go into our harbour, so I had to do a little bit of a haka and made that point".

Taranaki Whānui chairman Kara Puketapu-Dentice said they look forward to being at the table with council to discuss topics from local government reform such as the Resource Management Act and Three Waters.

"We know that if we're not there at the decision-making table we will be the ones most significantly affected by those decisions".

The new partnership replaces a separate memoranda of understanding signed by the council in 2017.

- RNZ