Pictured at Te Kōpuka's first meeting at Te Ihingarangi Marae at Waimiha on May 30 are (from left) Tahinganui Hina, Lou Sanson, Vicky Robertson, Tamahau Rowe and Aaron Rice-Edwards. Photo / Supplied
Pictured at Te Kōpuka's first meeting at Te Ihingarangi Marae at Waimiha on May 30 are (from left) Tahinganui Hina, Lou Sanson, Vicky Robertson, Tamahau Rowe and Aaron Rice-Edwards. Photo / Supplied
Members of the Whanganui River's new strategy group have unanimously chosen Gerrard Albert and Hera Smith as chairman and deputy chairwoman.
The group, Te Kōpuka nā Te Awa Tupua (Te Kōpuka), has 17 members, including the mayors of three districts within the Whanganui River catchment.
"There was unanimous agreement that the effort to bring our communities to an understanding of the new status of Te Awa Tupua should be led by mana whenua members of Te Kōpuka," Whanganui Mayor Hamish McDouall said.
"We are rapt that Gerrard and Hera, with their knowledge and experience, will guide us."
Albert, of Ngā Paerangi, negotiated the Whanganui River settlement.
He chairs Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui Trust, the post settlement governance entity of Whanganui Iwi. Smith, of Te Ati Haunui ā Pāpārangi and Ngāti Maniapoto, is an environmental and planning consultant currently working on an environmental project for the Maniapoto Māori Trust Board.
Te Kōpuka nā Te Awa Tupua's deputy chairwoman is environment and planning consultant Hera Smith. Photo / Supplied
Te Kōpuka had its first meeting at Waimiha, near Ohura, in May. Its second meeting is at Putiki Marae on July 31.
Its purpose is to produce a plan to address the health and wellbeing of the river under its new legal status.
The river was legally recognised as a living and indivisible whole, including all its metaphysical and physical elements, with the March 2017 passing of the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act.
Te Kōpuka will produce the river strategy, called Te Heke Ngahuru ki Te Awa Tupua, and also monitor its implementation and review it. A timeframe for that will be set over the coming months.
Anybody making decisions or performing functions related to the river will be required to have particular regard to the plan.
Te Kōpuka meetings will also be a forum for discussing Te Awa Tupua issues. They will generally be open to the public, Smith said, so that river communities can have their say.
Gerard Albert
involved in Whanganui River Treaty claim with Whanganui River Maori Trust Board
consultation re treaty,at Wanganui Racecourse. govt consultation re asset sale
One of the innate values of Te Awa Tupua is particularly apt in this, Albert said.
"Ngā manga nui me ngā manga iti e honohono kau ana, that is, the large and small streams that inevitably converge to form Te Awa Tupua. The concept of Te Awa Tupua relies on us recognising our common responsibility as the sum of our river's many streams and communities."
Te Kōpuka will have six iwi members, representing groups spread across the catchment. The memberships will be shared between Gerrard Albert, Wiari Rauhina, Tyrone Smith, Gabriel Moana, Eric Crown, Anaru Marshall, Des Canterbury, Hera Smith, Pāora Haitana, Moana Ellis, Hone Turu and others, in a collaborative effort called Te Ripo.
The local authority representatives are Hamish McDouall, Don Cameron, Neil Volzke and Nicola Patrick. Other members, representing particular interests, are Glenn Maclean, Damian Coutts, Tracey Hickman, Rory Smith, Keith Beautrais, Nicole Dryden and Geoff Burton.
