A Te Arawa proposal to set up an independent board on the Rotorua Lakes Council will go out for full public consultation.
Councillors voted 10-3 in favour of a wider consultation process at a meeting of the Rotorua Lakes Council yesterday in front of a council chamber packed with members of Te Arawa iwi and the public.
Members of the public leave the council chambers after last night's meeting. PHOTO BEN FRASER
The proposal could see the establishment of an iwi board sitting outside of the council structure to replace the council's former Te Arawa Standing Committee (TASC).
Te Arawa would appoint or elect a board of up to 14 people to represent the iwi with two representatives - with voting rights - to sit on the council's Operations and Monitoring Committee and on its Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee, with one member on the Chief Executive Performance Committee and another representative on Resource Management Act hearings panels.
Voting against the proposal were councillors Glenys Searancke, Rob Kent and Mike McVicker.
Voting in favour were Mayor Steve Chadwick, Deputy Mayor Dave Donaldson and Councillors Karen Hunt, Mark Gould, Peter Bentley, Trevor Maxwell, Janet Wepa, Tania Tapsell, Merepeka Raukawa-Tait and Charles Sturt.
Before the meeting began about 200 iwi members, including kaumatua Sir Toby Curtis, Pihopa Kingi and Tai Eru, were welcomed into the council chamber by former Te Arawa Standing Committee members Rene Mitchell and Waereti Tait-Rolleston.
TASC spokesman Arapeta Tahana explained the proposal to those in attendance before it was opened up for debate.
EXPLANATION: Former Te Arawa Standing Committee member Arapeta Tahana explains the iwi's partnership proposal to a packed Rotorua Lakes Council chamber.
Councillor Janet Wepa said while she had reservations about the proposal, including giving voting rights to unelected members, she voted for it so the rest of Rotorua could have a say.
"It's a sensible way forward ... but I don't want to be stuck with the old racist white guys who don't think they are racist, but are really used to power and control," she said.
Councillor Tania Tapsell said she was disappointed with race-based attacks on the proposal.
"We should not forget whose land we are on, or where our hospital stands, or where our schools stand.
"This decision is not based on race, that is just emotive thinking. We must not make the mistakes of the past; and look to the future.
Councillor Glenys Searancke
"We, as councillors, have the opportunity to make the right decision," she said.
Mr Tahana said he was pleased the proposal would now be consulted on by the whole of Rotorua and was hopeful it would eventually be passed.
Image 1 of 6: 181214bf13 Charles Sturt 18 December 2014 Rotorua Daily Post Photograph by Ben Fraser
However, councillor Mike McVicker said he was not happy having the Te Arawa proposal supported in principle, saying it gave the consultation process an unfair bias.
Councillor Rob Kent said if councillors achieved nothing else, at least the proposal was going out for public consultation.
"If we had not opposed it, it would not have. ... I'm not pleased how the mayor engineered the result, but this is a political game.
"Hopefully now, the community will get off their backsides and have their say," he said.
Mrs Chadwick said the decision was "both an historic commitment to a genuine partnership with iwi, and a pragmatic acknowledgment that the wider community should have a say".
"We've taken a momentous step forward in acknowledging the significant contribution Te Arawa has made to the development of Rotorua. But more importantly, this step also acknowledges the vital role tangata whenua can play alongside the council in building a better future for our district.
"I'm very proud of the way our Te Arawa community has come together to present a compelling and well-developed proposal to share our journey. They have acted with exceptional dignity and have remained calm and reasoned throughout that process," she said.
The proposal, along with a range of other options, will go out for public consultation early next year with a final decision expected to be made by May.
Rotorua Daily Post Twitter feed including last night's meeting
