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Less protection for waahi tapu.
Auckland councillors have rejected a recommendation that they stick with the original plan to require a cultural impact assessment when developments threaten sites of significance to mana whenua.
The positive staff recommendation was one of the reasons Independent Maori Statutory Board chair David Taipari gave Radio Waatea for agreeing the Auckland Development Committee he sits on should pass the job of finalising the Unitary Plan to the full council.
But the council instead voted 12-6 to go with the recommendation of the government-appointed Independent Review Panel that the Sites and Places of Value to the Mana Whenua overlay should be deleted.
The officials had said there was enough evidence for the sites to be registered now, rather than waiting for more research to be done.
The decisions was welcomed by lobby group Democracy Action, which has been attacking the idea of Maori input into decision making.
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