The Zig Zag track in the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park connects the Titirangi community to its local beach. Photo: Supplied / Auckland Council
The relationship between Mana Whenua and the Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area, and their role in developing a strategic plan for the area, is now formally recognised in a deed between Auckland Council, West Auckland iwi Te Kawerau ā Maki and the Department of Conservation (DoC).
The Deed of Acknowledgement applies to public land within the lush forests of the Heritage Area and crown land managed by DoC.
Council's Planning and Policy Committee have on Thursday afternoon voted to agree with the deed and to support the setting up of a new joint committee to preserve the area for future generations.
The committee will include representatives from five members from Te Kawerau ā Maki, two from council's governing body, three from local boards and one from DoC. It will be giving advice on to the governing body about decisions relating to the Waitākere Ranges.
All members of the planning committee voted to agree with the deed and all but five councillors agreed with the setting up of a joint committee.
The joint committee will be developing a strategic plan for the Heritage Area, to support the five-yearly monitoring report required by the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act - which was introduced in 2008.
Since the legislation was introduced, there have been no single comprehensive plan for the Heritage Area.
The public gallery at the planning committee's meeting on Thursday was filled with more than 40 supporters from Te Kawerau ā Maki, and other iwi and hapu, including Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Ngāti Manuhiri and Ngāti Pāoa.
Dozens of members of Te Kawerau ā Maki, and other Iwi and Hapu, including Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Ngāti Manuhiri and Ngāti Pāoa - sing a waiata in celebration of the Deed of Acknowledgement being passed by Auckland Council. Photo: Screenhot via Auckland Council
Rangatira and Kaumatua from Te Kawerau ā Maki told councillors that the deed is the most important event since their settlement with the Crown.
Waitākere councillor Shane Henderson said it's a "historic day" for Waitākere.
He said while the local board does a fantastic job in making key decisions for the Waitākere ranges, West Aucklanders cannot say that the current governance for the ranges is working well.
Henderson said the new advisory committee is needed to give proper attention to the Waitākere ranges and ensure its management it more in line with treaty principles.
Among the five councillors who voted to support the deed, but were against the setting up of the advisory committee, councillor Mike Lee and councillor Wayne Walker were most vocal about their concerns.
Lee said the arrangements for the committee was "not equitable and not fair", and didn't give enough consideration to the investment in the Waitākere Regional Park.
Following Lee's comments, councillor Josephine Bartley said her eye keeps twitching after hearing comments from certain people.
"I just want to know what are you scared of? Nothing is being taken away from anyone by recognising Tangata Whenua and their ancestral connection to the land - and even then the recognition here is in a very palatable format for those who are scared by way of being a joint advisory panel," she said.
Meanwhile, Walker said while he acknowledged that the deed was the right thing to do, he had concerns about the accountability, authority and oversight of the proposed new advisory committee - considering that the council is the primary funder of it.
Feedback from an earlier public consultation in April showed 51 percent of submitters from the deed and its elements - including the advisory committee, 39 percent opposed it and 10 percent were neutral or unclear.
Thirty-seven percent of the submissions came from within the Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area itself.
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