Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua asserts that the current consultation and investigative work undertaken by the Far North District Council is not supported by our Iwi.

Rūnanga CEO Alan Riwaka says: “many of the sites identified across Taitokerau and within our own Tribal boundaries do not have natural fauna and flora therefore should not be included within the SNA scope, we understand why whānau are concerned that this could be deemed an unadulterated land grab.” Riwaka notes that “across our Ngāti Whātua rohe nearly all of Kaipara will be impacted by the SNA process and it is concerning that the Council have pressed ahead on this work without broader Iwi, community, central Government and most importantly local landowners consent and approval”.

Riwaka adds that “Whenua is central to our community and the wellbeing of whānau, and better care should have been taken by the Far North District Council to engage whānau landowners in this process. We are concerned how Council gathered data about our land blocks without our consent and we believe there needs to be a fair and transparent application of process not only to Māori landowners but all landowners across Te Taitokerau”.

Antony Thompson Chief Operations Officer of the Rūnanga echoes the concerns raised and says “we are Te Tiriti partners and our whānau are more than capable of managing our own affairs on our own land, including upholding our roles and responsibilities as Kaitiaki of our own unique natural flora and fauna. As an Iwi we are vehemently against the SNA process being used as a potential revenue gathering exercise for Council or for this to be used as an opportunity to add unnecessary bureaucracy over the tāonga we are responsible for, for current and future generations.”

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua will be working alongside our other Iwi partners across Northland who are collectively speaking out against the Significant Natural Areas consultation process and they are putting their support behind Iwi and whānau representatives taking part in the upcoming Hikoi in opposition to the SNA designations of whenua Māori that will converge at the Far North District Council Kaikohe Office 12pm 11 June.

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