{"id":498908,"date":"2026-06-28T00:26:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T00:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/498908\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T00:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T00:26:08","slug":"nga-hapu-o-whangarei-disappointed-after-whangarei-district-council-rejects-mana-whakahono-a-rohe-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/498908\/","title":{"rendered":"Ng\u0101 Hap\u016b o Whang\u0101rei disappointed after Whang\u0101rei District Council rejects Mana Whakahono \u0101 Rohe plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt\u2019s a kick in the guts. It undermines and degrades the council-hap\u016b relationship. It\u2019s bad faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyndon, also a Green Party list MP, said the council had failed to provide a pathway towards a statutory relationship with hap\u016b.<\/p>\n

Poroti kaum\u0101tua Hona Edwards of Whang\u0101rei\u2019s Te Uriroroi hap\u016b described the outcome as disappointing.<\/p>\n

The original council meeting agenda contained two options \u2013 to initiate a MWaR process with Whang\u0101rei district hap\u016b or decline to do so. <\/p>\n

However, by the time the meeting began, that had been replaced with a recommendation, moved by Mayor Ken Couper and seconded by councillor Paul Yovich, that the council would not initiate the process at present.<\/p>\n

New Zealand has eight signed MWaR agreements across five councils \u2013 Whang\u0101rei District Council (WDC), Far North District Council, Northland Regional Council, Taup\u014d District Council and West Coast Regional Council. <\/p>\n

Six are in Northland, with the Whang\u0101rei and Far North district councils each having one and Northland Regional Council having four. <\/p>\n

Couper acknowledged supporters\u2019 disappointment. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe also understand that we cannot keep everybody happy at the same time.\u201d <\/p>\n

He said councillors had received extensive briefings and engaged in robust debate before making their decision.<\/p>\n

Couper said he did not want the decision to suggest the council failed to understand the importance of its relationships with hap\u016b, rather, \u201c… we do\u201d. <\/p>\n

Te Orewai hap\u016b member Delaraine Armstrong said she was disappointed by the result. <\/p>\n

Armstrong, a member of WDC\u2019s Te K\u0101rearea strategic partnership standing committee, said the vote came despite years of work between hap\u016b and the council. <\/p>\n

Whang\u0101rei M\u0101ori ward councillor Phoenix Ruka said statutory agreements provided certainty for future generations during significant change in resource management and local government.<\/p>\n

While the current council had shown commitment to working with hap\u016b, he questioned what would happen under future councils without statutory arrangements. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe uncertainty is what worries hap\u016b.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"GatheredGathered after the council’s decision meeting rejecting a Mana Whakahono \u0101 Rohe application are WDC\u2019s Ana Linter-Cole (left), Ng\u0101 Hap\u016b o Whang\u0101rei\u2019s H\u016bhana Lyndon (Green list MP), Sonny Henare, Delaraine Armstrong and Hohipere Williams. Photo \/ Susan Botting\"Ng\u0101Ng\u0101 Hap\u016b o Whang\u0101rei members turned out to WDC\u2019s Thursday meeting to hear the council’s decision on whether it would adopt a joint Mana Whakahono \u0101 Rohe agreement with the collective. Photo \/ Susan Botting<\/p>\n

Deputy Mayor Scott McKenzie acknowledged an MWaR would formally entrench the relationship between council and hap\u016b. <\/p>\n

Instead, the council chose to strengthen existing partnership arrangements. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are instead committing to here is a non-statutory relationship that is enduring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI acknowledge that\u2019s not perfect or enough, but it is where we are at.\u201d <\/p>\n

The hap\u016b application comes as planned changes to resource management legislation are expected to end the ability to initiate new MWaR. <\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the new legislation comes into play, which we expect by October, the day after that, these agreements can\u2019t be initiated anymore,\u201d councillor Tangiwai Baker said. <\/p>\n

However, she said signed or initiated agreements could still be considered in future planning processes. <\/p>\n

WDC also has MWaR proposals from Ng\u0101ti Takapari and Te Parawhau that are yet to be formally progressed.<\/p>\n

Baker said hap\u016b \u2013 unlike iwi authorities \u2013 had to rely on councils to start an MWaR process. <\/p>\n

Whang\u0101rei M\u0101ori ward councillor Deborah Harding noted the contrast between the council\u2019s willingness to move quickly on other major reforms and its reluctance to progress the MWaR application. <\/p>\n

However, councillor Simon Reid said the council should not be rushed when considering an application of such significance. <\/p>\n

\"Whang\u0101reiWhang\u0101rei District councillor Simon Reid at the meeting debating Ng\u0101 Hap\u016b o Whang\u0101rei\u2019s push for a joint Mana Whakahono \u0101 Rohe agreement with the collective under the Resource Management Act. Photo \/ Susan Botting<\/p>\n

Councillor David Baldwin said councillors would face criticism regardless of the meeting outcome. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe council was going to be damned if it did and damned if it didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baldwin said the council was reaffirming its commitment to strengthening relationships, not weakening them. <\/p>\n

Mayor Couper, Deputy Mayor McKenzie and councillors David Baldwin, Crichton Christie, Brad Flower, Stephen Martin, Marie Olsen, Simon Reid, Matthew Yovich and Paul Yovich voted to not initiate the process at present. <\/p>\n

Harding and M\u0101ori ward councillor Ruka, along with councillors Tangiwai Baker and Nicholas Connop, voted against that position.<\/p>\n

\u25a0 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s a kick in the guts. It undermines and degrades the council-hap\u016b relationship. It\u2019s bad faith.\u201d Lyndon, also…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,9092,19064,1558,5205,26519,17153,45212,7557,44973,82457,26477,440,74384,111,43,139,86229,69,2170,660,22049,520,249388,165,22052,249387,1869,102],"class_list":["post-498908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-against","tag-agreement","tag-been","tag-council","tag-councillors","tag-damaged","tag-disappointed","tag-district","tag-environmental","tag-hap","tag-leaders","tag-local","tag-mana","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-ng","tag-nz","tag-plan","tag-planning","tag-rejects","tag-relationship","tag-rohe","tag-their","tag-voted","tag-whakahono","tag-whangrei","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}